Star comment: Hospitals must adapt to survive
The man in charge of Shropshire's hospitals has spoken with refreshing candour and honesty in an open letter to readers.
Simon Wright, chief executive of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust, says change is urgently required.
If our hospitals persist with the present status quo, they will gradually be diminished. Funding opportunities and new investment will be diverted elsewhere. They will fall behind in the race to modernise and improve, becoming increasingly anachronistic. Gradually, both hospitals will be sidelined.
Mr Wright's message is simple: our two local hospitals have to adapt in order to survive. If they do not, they face an uncertain future.
It is encouraging that he has spoken out. Our hospitals have faced considerable uncertainty for too long. Confusion surrounding their future has already had a detrimental effect.
Recruitment to the A&E departments at Shrewsbury and Telford is difficult because staff believe one of them will inevitably be closed.
Health chiefs have continually made the case for a closure, citing operational reasons. It is only a lack of political courage allied to a public distaste for such moves that has kept both open. Clinical need has been lower down the list of priorities.
Mr Wright has started the year in positive and transparent fashion. It is now important that words are translated to actions for we have been here before. On too many occasions, our health chiefs have professed a need for change yet there has been none.
Come January 2017, our health service should not be in the same position that it is now. We do not want to hear a similar message 12 months hence, having endured further uncertainty, speculation and consultation.
Health chiefs have had ample time to canvass views and opinions. They have had plenty of opportunity to make strategic decisions and look at the long-term future of services here in Telford and Shropshire. And now they must act.
They know that they will be unable to please all of the people all of the time. They know that there will be occasions where they lose on the swings but gain on the roundabouts.
Decisive action is required to bring about the betterment of health care in our region.
This should be a year of action and new beginnings. Those who work in the NHS deserve that, as do local patients. Anything else would be failure.
