Telford hospital's A&E plans must be explained, demands Health Secretary

Sajid Javid has written to one of the county's most senior health officials asking him to 'publicly' set out the services that will be provided at Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford, as part of the Future Fit hospitals reorganisation.

Both PRH and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), which are managed jointly by Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS trust, are subject to the Future Fit reorganisation.

The plans would see the Shrewsbury site become home to the county's main 24-hour A&E department. Currently both hospitals have 24-hour A&E facilities.

The proposal has sparked fierce opposition from Telford residents and politicians, concerned at the loss of services.

Following a review, previous Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that PRH would have an 'A&E Local', which would provide a '24/7 urgent care model' instead of the original proposal for an 'urgent care centre'.

The announcement has led to confusion with no clear description as to what service the 'A&E Local' would provide.

Now, following concerns from Telford MP Lucy Allan, who says 24 hour A&E services need to remain available at PRH, Mr Javid has written to Mark Brandreth, interim accountable officer of Shropshire Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, asking him to publicly confirm how the plan will work.

In his letter, Mr Javid says: "I want to take this opportunity to ask you for a progress update and in particular to set out publicly the services that will be delivered at Telford under this proposal."

Ms Allan said she welcomed Mr Javid's intervention, adding that she had become concerned at being unable to get confirmation from the local NHS as to what A&E services will be delivered from PRH.

She said: "I am very grateful to the Secretary of State for seeking clarification over the direction of Future Fit, something I have been pushing for over many months.

"Telford residents deserve to know the plans for their local hospital and not be kept in the dark by the CCG or the council.

"I look forward to hearing the answer from the local NHS and will continue to push for 24/7 A&E services in Telford."

Under the Future Fit plans, RSH would have a 24 hour A&E, and would also be home to consultant-led women and children's services – which are currently provided at PRH.

Under the plan Telford would host an 'A&E Local' and would become the centre for planned care.

The whole project has been subject to protracted issues, with the most recent seeing delays to the business case being signed off amid concerns over the costs of the project.

In response, Mr Brandreth said: “We received a letter yesterday from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid MP, regarding our hospital transformation programme, we will respond in due course.

“We continue to work closely with The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and other key partners to progress the hospital transformation programme.”