Pledge that neither Telford nor Shrewsbury hospital will take precedence in Shropshire A&E decision
The body responsible for reviewing Shropshire's health services has insisted that neither Telford & Wrekin or Shropshire will take precedence in the process.
The assurance comes after Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski questioned whether there would be "equal representation" for the two areas on the panel which takes the final decision over Shropshire's A&E units.
Mr Kawczynski's comments followed NHS England's decision to step in and order Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group to address its deficit - projected to be more than £14 million.
As part of the move, David Evans, the accountable officer at Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, has been jointly appointed to the same post at Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group.
In a letter to NHS England Mr Kawczynski said: "I do have some concerns as to how this action will affect the Shropshire Future Fit programme going forward; particularly in light of the fact that the overarching management control of both Shropshire and Telford CCGs now falls to the existing accountable officer for Telford CCG.
"I have every confidence in Mr Evans' ability to undertake the role, but seek assurance from yourself that there will be equal representation, both from Shropshire and Telford, on the Future Fit decision making panel."
In response, Richard Caddy, on behalf of Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire CCG, said that neither organisation would take precedence.
He said: "David Evans will be joint accountable officer with a joint management team – neither CCG has precedence over the other. But more importantly they will both remain clinically led as separate statutory organisations with their own governing bodies. It's one management team reporting to different boards.
"This isn't a particularly unusual situation. Next door in Staffordshire, three CCGs, Stafford and Surrounds, Cannock Chase and South East Staffordshire share a management team, but still with different boards."
Mr Kawczynski has also called for a registered vote on the decision over whether Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or Princess Royal Hospital is selected as the location for the county's emergency centre.
He said: "I would also request that any voting on the location of a single accident and emergency unit for Shropshire be undertaken in public and a record be kept of how each individual member voted."
