Report: Ambulances could be on ‘permanent standby’ for patient transfers under Future Fit plan

A report published by the Government’s Independent Reconfiguration Panel advisory body recommended that Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust press ahead with its controversial Hospitals Transformation Programme, formerly known as Future Fit.

The plan would see Accident and Emergency (A&E) services currently provided at the county’s two major hospitals ‘centralised’ into a redeveloped emergency care department at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

However the panel agreed with Telford & Wrekin Council's position that the plan relies heavily on how quickly patients can be moved from Telford's Princess Royal Hospital’s urgent care centre to full A&E facilities in Shrewsbury – and said this could mean ambulances being on permanent standby to transport critically ill patients 17 miles from one site to the other.

“Skilled clinical teams at the Princess Royal Hospital will have the ability to assess, stabilise, treat and transfer seriously ill ‘walk-in’ patients and in the event that a patient became critically unwell, they would be quickly and safely transferred directly via ambulance to the emergency department or an appropriate speciality assessment area at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital,” the panel’s report said.

“It is therefore vital that there are appropriate numbers of ambulances available and transfer protocols in place to deliver safe and effective patient care.”

In its recommendations, it added: “To support the Hospitals Transformation Programme, the revenue funding consequences for emergency ambulances must be reviewed regularly to ensure that the appropriate capacity is available when needed for transfers. Whether this would involve an ambulance being permanently on standby at the Princess Royal Hospital is for the NHS trust to consider locally in agreement with the West Midlands Ambulance Service.”

They said protocols between the two hospitals, who already transfer patients to services between the two sites, must continue to be developed.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said the changes would decrease ambulance waiting times as more patients would be transported to the right hospital the first time.

“I understand people’s concerns that these changes might mean they have to travel further to get to the right hospital, but from my experience in the ambulance service, the most important thing is that people get to the right nurses, doctors and surgeons the first time,” said director of nursing Mark Docherty.

“Under the new system, all the right specialists and the equipment they need will be in one place. Patients will be able to see the right clinicians and get diagnosed faster. Treatment, including surgery, will be more easily available.

“I believe that this is a very positive development for the community.”

Other recommendations from the report included a public information campaign to ensure people with critical emergency conditions did not head to Telford for emergency care treatment – adding that inadvertently admitting patients with acute problems to the Telford site would represent a ‘significant risk to patient safety’.

Councillor Shaun Davies, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, described the decision to press ahead with the plan as a “bitter blow” to the people of Telford.

“I am beyond disappointed that the Minister has chosen not to halt the plans,” he said.

“When parents are making four-hour bus journeys each day just to be with their sick children, when people lose loved ones because they can’t get to Shrewsbury in time, it will be too late. Our residents will have to live with the consequences of this decision for generations to come.”