Blog: Best of luck – that’s my message to health bosses as they look (yet again) to reshape the way hospital services are delivered at Shrewsbury and Telford, writes Health and Local government correspondent Dave Morris

Whatever they decide they are going to upset politicians, civic leaders, members of the public and even some senior doctors.

There has been a growing realisation that the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal – run by the same NHS trust – can’t continue the way they are.

Services are being duplicated, which is costly, and there have been warnings that there could be times when there are not enough doctors to cover all departments at the two sites.

It is becoming increasingly hard to make sure “the right people with the right skills are always in the right place” to deal with the needs of patients.

Fears have also been voiced that unless there are changes, some services could go out of county, to Wolverhampton or Birmingham.

Many people do understand the need for change – for example concentrating particular services at either Shrewsbury or Telford – but the big problem is that they don’t want change at what they see as their own local hospital and to which they have a close attachment.

I, on the other hand, see one hospital trust working across two sites but very few appear to grasp this concept even though the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital (note the singular ‘hospital’) Trust was formed seven years ago.

At the end of this month board members from the hospital trust, Shropshire County Primary Care Trust and NHS Telford and Wrekin will meet to finalise the options for transforming the way services are delivered.

They will agree a firm set of proposals for a major public consultation exercise starting on December 6 and lasting 14 weeks.

I can’t help feeling that all hell will begin to break out within hours of the proposals being published.

A feeling of deja vu will begin to sweep over me as east and west of the county once more prepare to do battle with each other.

The “new” boss of the hospital trust, Adam Cairns, recently warned the organisation that it needs to get its “collective act together and quickly” or it will find itself in a steep and sudden decline which cannot be reversed.

He urged staff to help shake-off the organisation’s reputation for “division and disharmony” and take the first steps towards a “better” future.

I have no doubts in my mind that change is needed across the two hospital sites and that this is also recognised in the highest NHS circles.

I also have no doubts that if Shropshire can’t agree a way forward, change will be imposed from outside.

And that could really hurt.