Health chiefs in Shropshire A&E option pledge to MPs
Health bosses have reiterated their desire to come up with a preferred option for the future of Shropshire's NHS services by next year.
They told two of the county's MPs that they hoped to start consultation on proposals for the future of services such as A&E by June 2016.
The process will be overseen by Wendy Saviour, NHS England director for the North Midlands area, who will monitor the progress being made by Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups.
A further meeting will be held in January to check up on progress being made, according to Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski and Telford MP Lucy Allan, who met health chiefs behind closed doors yesterday.
A joint statement by the MPs said: "Yesterday's meeting, held at Shirehall, Shrewsbury, had been arranged by the Members of Parliament following the announcement in October that there would be a delay making a decision on the future of accident and emergency services in Shropshire.
"The decision would have seen a location being chosen for a single A&E site for the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin area, but it was decided that the Future Fit programme could not progress any hospital reconfiguration option for consultation until it more effectively tackles Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust's deficit, estimated to be between £25 million and £30 million.
"We were informed that CCGs had initially tried to push through a very ambitious programme for change and that they had now put together a revised and more realistic delivery plan which would see a decision on a preferred option being made available for public consultation in June 2016.
"The next step is for CCGs to produce a deficit reduction plan, and MPs have asked that a detailed progress report be made available for them when they next meet with health officials in January.
"Wendy Saviour, NHS England director for the North Midlands area has given her reassurance that she will be overseeing and holding the CCGs to account over the forthcoming months to ensure that timescales detailed in the delivery plan are met.
"Brigid Stacey, acting accountable officer for Shropshire CCG, and David Evans, accountable officer for Telford CCG reiterated their commitment to the delivery of the Future Fit programme and gave an undertaking to ensure no local delays occur."
Shropshire CCG, the organisation responsible for buying in services for hospitals and GP surgeries in the county, was placed in special measures earlier this month.
It also announced it was forecast to be £10.6 million in the red by next April.
