Plans will be soon presented to Shropshire hospital bosses on the “immediate measures” that need to be taken to ensure services remain sustainable at the county’s two main hospitals.

The move was agreed today by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust board which considered the recommendations of a report looking at how healthcare should be developed between now and 2020.

The ultimate goal is to concentrate acute services on a single site, possibly in a new hospital.

It is felt that full services cannot be maintained across both the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal sites because of difficulties in recruiting key doctors and complying with European working time directives.

But action needs to be taken over two to three years to safeguard services.

The board today agreed to “note” that the option of transferring some acute services from the Princess Royal to the Royal Shrewsbury scored more highly than other options.

It was further agreed to note that all options for a single site in 2020 have the potential to be feasible.

Dates for a major public consultation have yet to be decided. However, there is also still a need for more immediate action and it is these plans that will be presented to a meeting of the trust board next month.

The option for transferring services from the PRH would see its A&E department downgraded and the loss of vascular surgery and inpatient paediatrics. This has led to protests in Telford & Wrekin from the council and the area’s two MPs.

But hospital trust chief executive Tom Taylor said: “This organisation has demonstrated its support for Telford.”