Future Fit: 'No plan B' in place for Shropshire health shake-up

Debbie Vogler, programme director for Future Fit, said discussions would be needed about what would happen if the Government refuses to fund the proposals.

She was speaking at a meeting of Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group's Governing Body, in which the process to determine the future of Shropshire's hospitals became embroiled in more confusion and delay.

Dr Jessica Sokolov, clinical director for women and children's services at Shropshire CCG, asked what would happen if funding, believed to be around £300 million, was not forthcoming.

She said: "There is a risk the capital won't be there and if that is the case will you continue with the consultation – and are you drafting a plan B in case it is not there?"

In response Mrs Vogler said officials were in discussions with Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust about its plans for continuing to provide safe care at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital Telford if the review did not secure funding.

She said: "In terms of plan B we do need the conversation. There is not a plan B. What we do know is a discussion with the trust about what their continuity plans are is taking place."

Mrs Vogler said a lack of funding would not mean that the problems facing the county's hospitals would go away.

She said: "The problem still exists so the problem of addressing acute sustainability will still need to be solved."

In October the Future Fit programme board had been expected to recommend the creation of one emergency centre at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, with women and children's services also moving to the site from Telford.

However, the process was delayed for a month in the face of threatened legal action from Telford & Wrekin Council.

It has now also emerged that no decision on a preferred option can be taken before NHS England provides feedback on whether funding will be available, potentially delaying the decision further and pushing public a consultation back until May next year.

The consultation had been due to start in December.

Wendy Saviour, director of commissioning operations at NHS North England, told Mrs Vogler that the bid for funding for the Future Fit programme would be judged against others across the UK, and that they should be prepared with an alternative.

She said: "The fundamental issue is the capital. As you will understand across the country there are huge amounts of capital requests so it has got to be taken against all of the other bids. I think we would be coming back if that was a problem saying 'what is your plan B?'."

The issue of funding arose because Mrs Vogler informed the CCG board that NHS England feedback on Shropshire's 'Sustainability and Transformation Plan' would be needed before a decision could be taken on Future Fit.

The plans, known as STPs, are being created by regions across the country and are seen by critics as a way of cutting funding from the health service.

Shropshire's draft STP sets out a number of service cuts and changes, designed to tackle the predicted deficit in the county's health and social care services, expected to be £123m by 2021.

Measures in the proposal include the Future Fit reconfiguration of A&E services at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, reducing spending on orthopaedic services by £4.5m a year, and looking to ensure that people are treated in Shropshire wherever possible – potentially saving £12m. The PRH Women and Children's Centre would also be moved to the RSH.

The report also says the rationalisation of acute services at RSH, PRH and Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital could save between £3m and £5m a year.

Plans to close the A&E at either RSH or PRH are also estimated to save about £22m a year, although it requires £300m of capital to complete. The STP states its vision is to make Shropshire's population the "healthiest on the planet".