The Department of Health has confirmed that Matt Hancock has now 'referred this case to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel and awaits its recommendations'.

Mr Hancock has also written a letter to Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies explaining his actions.

The formal referral, asking for the review, was made by Telford & Wrekin Council and Councillor Davies said the legal argument ran to 61 pages.

The independent panel will have to decide by the end of May if a full review is necessary.

The Future Fit proposals, which were approved by Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin clinical commissioning groups in January, would see Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital lose its A&E and consultant-led women and children’s services.

Both would be based at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while PRH would become a centre for planned care.

Letter

In his letter to Councillor Davies, Mr Hancock wrote: "I am today writing to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel asking them to undertake an initial assessment of this case.

"Should the IRP advise me that a full review is necessary, you will have the chance to present your case to them in full.

"Your letter of 20th March 2019 has been passed to the IRP.

"I have asked the panel to report to me no later than the end of May.

"I have asked them to let me and copy recipients of my letter to them know if it becomes apparent that this deadline is not achievable, and, in such a case, what a more realistic timetable would be."

Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard said the announcement was "an important and positive step forwards in getting the flawed Future Fit reconfiguration reviewed by the IRP".

There have been numerous calls for the plans to be scrapped and both Telford MP Lucy Allan and Mr Pritchard have called for the decision to be reviewed, which could only be done after Telford & Wrekin Council made the formal referral.

Ms Allan said: "The Secretary of State has been listening to my concerns and those of residents.

"I am delighted that our efforts in Parliament have paid off as the Health Secretary acted as soon as he had the legal documentation from the council following Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’s announcement in January.

“I was able to raise this issue again in Parliament just this week during a Westminster Hall debate on health inequalities. I now really hope that this proposal will now take into account our concerns locally.”

Councillor Nicola Lowery, chairman of the Telford Conservative Association and borough councillor for the Ironbridge Gorge, added: “I am pleased to learn that the Health Secretary Matt Hancock has listened to the concerns and representations made by both our MPs, we as local councillors and our community.

"This is an important step forward as not all cases are referred to the IRP and I believe that as there is substantial evidence to support why this decision to site emergency care at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital would not be in the interests of the health service in our area.

"I hope the IRP recognises that the joint CCG decision does not meet the clinical need of our population in Shropshire and advises the Secretary of State as such."

Councillor Davies said: “I have time and time again been asking the Secretary of State to intervene and he has now only agreed to do so after being forced to by our submission of the referral request.

“This decision makes it clear that we have made a strong and robust case, because the request could have been rejected at this stage.

“This is merely the first step in what I fully expect to be a drawn-out process but we must make sure that it does not lead to the Health Secretary just kicking the Future Fit can further down the road. It avoids him making any decision until after May’s elections.”

A review could recommend changes to the decision, potentially putting the Future Fit process at risk, or confirm proceeding as planned.

Future Fit wait could be two months

An independent panel has just over two months to decide whether a full review should be ordered into the Future Fit decision.

The plans, which would leave the county with a single emergency centre at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, have faced a backlash of criticism.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has now begun a process which could place the Future Fit proposals into jeopardy.

Earlier this month Mr Hancock visited Telford's Princess Royal Hospital where he was urged by local MPs, Lucy Allan and Mark Pritchard, to order a review of the decision.

Mr Hancock said he would consider any request "extremely carefully" and would make an "objective assessment of the best thing to do".

Delay

Last month, Simon Wright, chief executive at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, warned that any major delays to the Future Fit scheme could result in staff leaving the trust.

However, Mr Hancock said he expected to be able to process the request quickly enough to avoid any impact.

He added that any review and subsequent delay would not jeopardise the funding for Future Fit.

He said: "I can turn it round quickly enough to not delay the process."

It has taken just two days for Mr Hancock to confirm that he is writing to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, asking them to undertake an initial assessment of the case.

However, the independent panel has until the end of May to report back on whether a full review is necessary.

Confirming Mr Hancock's actions, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The Secretary of State has referred this case to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel for its independent and expert advice, and awaits its recommendations.”

Benefits

Health bosses say the Future Fit programme will lead to better conditions, top facilities and will make it easier to recruit the staff needed, reducing the need for agency workers.

Clinicians have also commented that separating emergency and planned care will bring other benefits, such as fewer planned operations having to be cancelled.

Thousands of people contributed their views to the Future Fit plans during a public consultation last year.