NHS could provide bus services for Shrewsbury super GP hub
Health bosses say they won't rule out providing bus services to get patients to a planned super GP hub.
Proposals for the Shrewsbury hub, which would become home to six of the town's GP practices, have prompted concerns from councillors and residents over transport to the site.
Shropshire Council has said it will not pay for bus routes to any new hub, but a meeting of the authority's health scrutiny committee this morning has been told the service could potentially be provided by the local NHS.
Gareth Robinson, director of delivery and transformation at NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care System (ICS), said he could neither rule it in, or out, and said any decision could only be taken after finding a definite location for the proposal.
Initially the plan had been to build the hub on Oteley Road in Meole Brace, however a search for other potential locations is now underway after concerns were raised about the Meole Brace site.
While speaking to the committee Mr Robinson also highlighted comments from a local GP, who said that practices in the town have had to turn down 20 trainee GPs because of lack of space to bring them in.
He said that although the hub would not entirely solve the problem, it could help.
Speaking on the transport concerns he said: "In terms of reduced travel, again it is right at the heart of this but until we know the location it is really difficult for me to say what I can do and what I cannot do as part of the development.
"The council have been very clear that there will be no funding for bus services. Actually I haven't been clear to say there won't be funding from the ICS for bus services, but I have been clear to say that I won't say there definitely will be either. Again, until we know the location we cannot work this out."
Mr Robinson said they had heard of the experiences of a similar project in Crewe, where a bus service was set up, but it was closed after six months because people were not using it.
The committee heard the NHS will be carrying out more discussions with patients and groups up until December, with a full eight-week consultation scheduled to start in April or March.
