Telford A&E closure decisions 'best made locally', say Government ministers

More than 25,350 people have signed a petition calling for the A&E at Princess Royal Hospital to remain open overnight, 15,000 more than was needed to get a Government response.

And this morning, at about 2.45am, the response was emailed out to everybody who had put their name to the campaign.

The decision to enact a night-time closure of the A&E at Princess Royal was made in September, and the closure is set to begin next month.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’s board (SaTH) voted unanimously in favour of the closure, citing concerns about a lack of staff.

The statement released by the Ministry of Health and Social Care said: "The trust with NHS support is making every effort to avoid overnight closure of Telford’s A&E, but has plans in place if it is unavoidable. This is a temporary measure, to safeguard patients’ safety.

"The trust has, with the support of NHS Improvement and local partners, made significant recruitment efforts, including overseas recruitment, in support of its A&E services and continues to do so, although it has been currently unable to recruit sufficient staff to address the A&E staffing issues.

"Although every effort is being made by the trust and its partners in the local health system to avoid the overnight closure, including engagement with neighbouring trusts to explore all options for securing additional staff, it is unlikely that other local trusts will be in a position to provide sufficient staff to resolve the A&E staffing issues at the Princess Royal Hospital in the immediate future.

'Keen interest'

"The trust has advised that should the temporary overnight closure become unavoidable after it has explored all options, it would not happen until some time in November 2018 and would likely last for at least 6 months, with any re-opening decision by the Board depending on whether the Emergency Department would be able to provide safe services to patients."

The statement says that the Department of Health had taken a "keen interest" in SaTH.

"In the event of the closure becoming unavoidable, the trust will be putting in place a communications programme for the benefit of the public, staff and other stakeholders once a final overnight suspension management plan has been agreed," they said.

"Ministers at the Department of Health and Social Care have also taken a keen interest in efforts to support the trust, and have engaged with NHS Improvement and relevant stakeholders as part of this.

"It is important to note, however, that it is in the best interests of the local NHS and patients for decisions such as this one to be made locally, and for the NHS locally to keep the situation under review to ensure patient safety."

To sign the petition visit petition.parliament.uk/petitions/229602

Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies, who started the petition, has also been leading a DIY-SOS style campaign to restore three houses within the Princess Royal grounds.

If successful, the houses would be given to free to junior and middle-grade doctors as an incentive to come to the town.

It would become the first trust in the country to offer free accommodation to some of their staff.