Moving Shrewsbury GPs into health hub would 'run down services' in the town
A former mayor of Shrewsbury has compared a plan to create a 'health hub' in the county town to the long awaited proposed Future Fit reorganisation of Shropshire's hospitals.
Julian Dean said the proposal to pump money into a new building and centralise six GPs surgeries would run down services, making them less accessible and lead to them being run cheaply.
He was talking outside Shrewsbury's Shirehall council building where around 150 people gathered on Sunday morning for the Liberal Democrat organised protest, to demonstrate against plans to create the 'health hub'.
The group heard from former GPs and health workers including Rob Park who co-founded the Riverside Practice and Lib Dem Councillor Bernie Bentick, a retired NHS consultant with 40 years experience, who said similar schemes to centralise services into one central hub had not been successful.
The Future Fit plans to re-organise the county's major hospitals were proposed in 2013 and have still not been implemented, with arguments over the costs of the proposals.
Six neighbourhood GP surgeries which would be potentially lost under the proposal from NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin to move to a new building close to Shrewsbury Town's stadium at Meole Brace. The surgeries earmarked to move are Claremont Bank, The Beeches, South Hermitage, Marysville, Marden and Belvidere.
Mr Dean, who is a green party county councillor for Porthill said: "There is a strong possibility that the consultation is not only inadequate but possibly illegal because they do have the duty to consult and there are no other alternatives being put on the table.
"And there are plenty of alternatives - yes some of the surgeries may need re-vamping but there are things that can be done along those lines but still keeping the services within the neighbourhood.
"I have seen proposals put forward by previous managers within the NHS which would do exactly that, so the options and alternatives are there and need to be considered. I think this will be a step backward as regards primary care and there is a lot of work going on within the town council and cross party to make this absolutely clear.
"There is also an element we know from the situation with Future Fit that people who are working in the NHS feel they have no choice. They are clearly not being given a choice because when NHS bosses came to speak to councillors their phrase of choice was 'No change is not an option' - but they weren't giving out all the alternative options."
He said he was taking a letter to GPs in his area asking them questions about whether they understand the dangers of the proposal.
Many people expressed concern about the location of the proposed new hub, with public transport access limited and pedestrians having to cross busy main roads and facing long walks to get there.
Councillor Pam Moseley is on Shrewsbury Town Council's Health and Well Being Committee and is hoping to organise a public meeting in the autumn as she and her fellow members feel they have not been fully consulted as yet.
She said: "I am very concerned about the transport implications they haven't been addressed yet because they are key to the proposal.
"Some of the GP practices are thought to be in favour of the proposal because they are either not big enough or need refurbishment but it is going to have serious implications for their patients and at the moment only one option has been outlined, I think a lot more discussion is needed."
