Telford council leader calls for 'break' in A&E closure talks - watch the video
Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies has called for a "break" on plans to restructure hospital services in the county.
Councillor Davies has told the chief officer of Telford and Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Groups, David Evans, of his grave concerns about last week's non-financial appraisal of options for hospital services at the Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury.
Councillor Davies is urging an enforced pause to the NHS Future Fit process to allow more detailed discussion and consideration of the decision making process.
It comes after it was announced that a 'non-financial appraisal' made the case that the Princess Royal Hospital should lose both its A&E department and close its £28 million women and children's centre that opened just two years ago.
Statement by Councillor Shaun Davies
Councillor Davies said: "I had a good meeting with David Evans this week and highlighted our specific and serious concerns about the non-financial and financial appraisal process, which he has confirmed has paved the way for NHS bosses plans to recommend moving the £28m Women & Children's Unit, just two years after it opened, and A&E services from the PRH.
"On every level, this makes no sense.
"We need a clear pause because we feel the NHS needs more time to look again at how it has presented information and on which key decisions, that will have a very negative affect on hundreds of thousands people in this borough and in major parts of Shropshire, appear to have been made.
"I also repeated the strong clinical and financial case to keep the Women & Children's Unit at PRH as a minimum, which has not altered since the centre was built and opened.
"This is not, and has never been, a Telford v Shrewsbury issue.
"We have from the beginning, and still now, support the need for an A&E in each hospital and again urge the NHS that we need a long pause to allow sufficient time for detailed discussion about the whole Future Fit process."
Those behind Future Fit have said that the 'non-financial appraisal' is just one step in the decision-making process and that a 'financial appraisal' and public consultation will need to be held before any final ruling can be made.
