Ambulances diverted from Shropshire to Stoke to help clear A&E backlog
Ambulances were diverted from both of the county's main hospitals to Stoke for two hours this afternoon.
Only life-threatening emergencies and paediatric cases were being accepted at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or Princess Royal Hospital in Telford between 1pm and 3pm to allow the hospital trust to clear a backlog of emergency cases.
The news comes after staffing issues at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) led its board to vote in favour of a temporary overnight closure of services at Princess Royal Hospital from November.
Nigel Lee, chief operating officer at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “Our two A&Es have been very busy this week and, in line with protocols, some ambulances were, for two hours this afternoon, diverted to one of our neighbouring NHS trusts which had the capacity to support us.
"This did not include patients who were referred to us by GPs or any paediatric patients.
“The number of ambulances we receive during the day is much greater than those we receive at night.
"Our neighbouring trusts have already indicated that the feel they are in a position to meet additional demand should the temporary overnight closure of the A&E Department at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford prove necessary to ensure the safety of our patients.
“In the meantime, we will continue with every effort to try to avoid that closure, which is something that nobody at the trust wants to do.”
'A terrifying glimpse'
Telford & Wrekin Council's leader Shaun Davies described the diversion as a "serious escalation" and called on the health secretary to intervene.
"This is a terrifying glimpse of what the future could hold for Shropshire," Councillor Davies said.
"It clearly is a serious escalation of the situation and it also demonstrates very clearly that an overnight closure at Telford would have a significant negative impact for people right across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Mid Wales.
"If you're a patient in Ludlow, Oswestry or Powys, your nearest hospital was Stoke which is absolutely catastrophic.
"If there isn't an intervention from the government, this could bring the NHS in the West Midlands to a stand still.
"Stoke is not designed to cope with ambulance diversions.
"It's time now that the health secretary stops monitoring the situation and intervenes."
More than 22,000 people have now signed a petition asking the government for a rescue plan to avoid the night-time closure of Telford's A&E.
Yesterday, Dudley MP Ian Austin said he had added his signature and congratulated Councillor Davies for leading the 'important campaign'.
It comes after the decision to close Telford's A&E overnight sparked fears it would mount pressure on neighbouring hospitals.
Should the petition get 100,000 signatures it will be considered for a debate in Parliament.
The trust says it needs an additional seven middle grade doctors and 15 A&E nurses to be able to keep both its A&E departments open in the 'short-term'.
Campaigners will also be holding a march and rally in Wellington on November 4.
Claire Brown, spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said the decision was made in the interest of patients.
"WMAS was happy to grant a two-hour divert for all ambulances, apart from patients with life-threatening emergencies and paediatric cases at the request of SaTH earlier today," she said.
"This allowed the hospital trust to clear a backlog and means ambulances are now able to take patients in normally.
"The decision to do so was a joint one between SATH and WMAS as it was the best way of ensuring the high standards of patient care.
"We will continue to work with health partners to do the right thing for patients. Ambulances are now going to both hospitals as normal."
