Shropshire health chiefs have agreed a major public consultation should be held on the future of services at the county’s two main hospitals.

And it has emerged that if proposed changes at the Royal Shrewsbury and Telford’s Princess Royal are approved, they will not be completed until 2014.

Board members of Shropshire County Primary Care Trust, NHS Telford and Wrekin, and the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust yesterday agreed a series of proposals for consultation.

A consultation document will be published next Thursday. It is proposed that a women’s and children’s centre be set up at the Princess Royal.

The current obstetric and neonatal intensive care departments at the Royal Shrewsbury will move to Telford and inpatient paediatrics will be consolidated there.

A vascular surgical centre will be created at the Royal Shrewsbury and the hospital will also be responsible for dealing with major trauma (for example road traffic accidents) and emergency and planned inpatient colorectal and upper gastrointestinal surgery.

A full A&E service will be maintained at both sites.

Hospital trust chief executive, Adam Cairns, outlined to all three boards the need for change to keep services safe and sustainable.

He said if the proposals got the go-ahead the “decanting” of services and buildings works would begin in late 2011 or early 2012 and it was likely this would take two years.

He said there are two possible building options for the new women and children’s centre, both in the range of £27 million to £30 million.

The hospital trust would have to seek a loan from the strategic health authority.

At the NHS Telford and Wrekin meeting, its director of public health, Dr Catherine Woodward, said she considered the proposals to be the best opportunity for resolving the “challenges” facing the hospitals.

She was concerned about the “significant risk” of some services being lost to the county if action wasn’t taken.

Andrew Eade, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council repeated the council’s “cautious welcome” to the proposals.

In reply to questions from the Shropshire County PCT board, Mr Cairns said the clinical leadership of the hospitals were “signed up” to the proposed changes.

He later told his own board that there needed to be “real consultation”.

By Dave Morris