Millions spent on fruitless Shropshire A&E shake-up talks 'not wasted'

David Evans said "valuable information" had been gathered over the past two-and-a-half years as part of the Future Fit programme.

Mr Evans, senior responsible officer for Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, said a clinical model had been established that would form the basis of future discussions on health care.

More than 10,000 people have now backed a petition calling for Shrewsbury to retain its A&E services.

The online petition, titled Keep A&E at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), has reached the required number of signatures to meet with an official response.

Under the government's petition rules, any that reaches 10,000 signatures requires an official response, while those that reach 100,000 must be considered for debate in Parliament.

The petition says "to close A&E in Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and have just one in Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) Telford is not viable in health care as some patients would have to travel as far as 120 miles on a round trip and having just the one in Shropshire will not cope."

A decision over the future of the hospital has now been postponed, but Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski praised the level of support for the campaign. He said: "I have been involved with petitions for many years as a member of parliament and this is the most popular I have come across in Shropshire.

"It is difficult to remember when a petition has attracted such a huge number of people and it is testimony to the importance that people attach to services remaining in Shropshire – not just Salopians but our neighbours across the border."

The MP said that he would refer to the petition in discussions with government. He said: "In my future discussions with the Secretary of State for Health, and in parliamentary debates when we talk about Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, I will refer to the 10,000 people who have chosen to sign this petition– a figure which is growing all the time. This sends a very strong message."

Mr Kawczynski also praised the people of Shrewsbury for their efforts in making their feelings felt over the importance of the town's A&E unit.

People can still sign up to the petition by visiting petition.parliament.uk/petitions/105131

But he said it was vital that a plan could be put in place over the next five years to wipe out Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust's multi-million pound deficit to enable the necessary changes to be made.

It comes after the Future Fit programme came in for heavy criticism from MPs and council chiefs following the decision to put off naming a preferred option for the future of key health services such as A&E.

The bill for the work carried out since the launch of Future Fit in 2013 is likely to reach £3 million.

Over the past two years £700,000 has been spent on the core Future Fit team, £700,000 on communication and engagement and £800,000 on the technical team.

Mr Evans said: "These are not wasted costs. It is very valuable information that we have collected.

"The clinical model we have is still the one we are taking forward – we are very confident about that. That is a real plus and one of the successes of the programme. Everyone has signed up to it.

"I feel that has been a really good use of money. We now have answers to what is needed and what is wanted. What we have seen over the last couple of years is the financial situation in health care worsening.

"If we put forward the model at the moment it would be rejected before it reaches the Treasury, if I am honest.

"The three options on the table do deliver a saving of about £2 million to £3 million, but the problem is the financial deficit is greater than that. So we need to go back and do future work to get a plan which reduces the deficit to zero in five years."

When asked what will happen to help Shropshire's two A&E departments over the difficult winter months, Mr Evans said: "Every year as a health economy we have to come up with a winter plan.

"There is currently a draft plan in place which will be developed and discussed so a final plan will be in place soon.

"This will be a range of schemes with one of the focuses being on the over 70 age range. Future Fit will be looking at this in the long run to drive down the number of people attending A&E."

Future Fit leaders will now meet again in mid-November to discuss the next step and financial plans.

Meanwhile the finance health bosses will be drawing up plans to show how the deficit can be reduced to zero in five years.

Mr Evans said: "It was always going to be a very tight timetable.

"To go to public consultation in December was going to be incredibly tight.

"If we missed the December deadline, the plan was to go to public consultation after the Welsh Government election in early May/June.

"This might still be available. If we come up with a plan to address the financial deficit by then then we can proceed with public consultation next summer.

"We now need to engage with the public as much as possible. We have to be transparent.

"There is no preferred option at the moment.

"This is a difficult situation.

"We will start work on a plan to reduce the deficit and expect a report back at next program board.

"Once we have a credible plan then we will be in a position to progress.

"We still have an opportunity to create something that will deliver for several decades to come."

Councillor Tracey Huffer, who represents Ludlow East on Shropshire council, said the process had failed to appreciate the contribution made by community hospitals in outlying areas of the county.

She said: "It is very frustrating that no decision has been reached.

"But it is also an opportunity to undertake a root and branch review of the entire Future Fit scheme.

"Too often Future Fit has had its head in the clouds, pursuing dream projects like a new super-hospital between Shrewsbury and Telford. That was never affordable.

"Because Future Fit didn't have its feet on the ground, it has failed to recognise the contributions that community hospitals like that in Ludlow can make."