Shropshire Star

Future Fit: Deep divide over Shropshire health plans

An independent review into the Future Fit appraisal process is essential to find a way forward, the boss of the programme board has insisted.

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David Evans addressed members of Telford and Wrekin clinical commissioning group at a meeting yesterday, following recommendations brought forward by the NHS Future Fit board being rejected.

The NHS Future Fit board's preferred option had been to have one A&E serving Shropshire and Mid Wales at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, which would also house the £28 million women and children's centre currently at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital.

Telford and Wrekin CCG members, who voted unanimously to reject the recommendations made by the NHS Future Fit board on Monday evening, reassembled for a meeting yesterday.

Mr Evans is chief officer for Telford and Wrekin CCG and also headed up the Future Fit review as the senior responsible officer.

Speaking at the Telford and Wrekin CCG meeting yesterday he stressed the need to move forward and identify suitable options on how to shake up the future of the county's health services.

And he insisted that change was essential if NHS services in Shropshire are to be sustainable in the future.

He said: "Part of that will be an independent review of the processes and methodology used in the appraisal.

"The terms and reference of that will need to be drawn up and agreed by both CCGs."

He said the impact of moving the women and children's centre from Telford's PRH to Shrewsbury would also be considered.

Mr Evans said: "No change is not an option.

"The current configuration of services is not sustainable in its current shape."

He said there needed to be options for change and noted there were considerable workforce challenges.

Mr Evans said: "I'm sure the programme board in reflecting on the decision made will be looking again at all evidence on the financial appraisal and non-financial appraisal before it takes any recommendation back to the CCGs in the future."

Neil Maybury, board lay member on Telford and Wrekin CCG, told the meeting yesterday that one of the reasons he voted to reject the NHS Future Fit board's recommendations was down to concerns about affordability.

He said: "There were many reasons. That is the reason we put our stake in the sand."

Concerns over affordability were also voiced by members of the public at the joint CCG meeting on Monday, with several people commenting that the Government was starving the NHS of funding.

There were also calls from Gill George, from Shropshire Defend Our NHS, who said the proposals could not go out to consultation as they stood.

Addressing the committee, she said: "What a farce that would be when you are completely divided amongst yourselves.

"With this level of division and public hostility it would be utter nonsense."

The preferred option put forward from the Future Fit review would have left Telford's PRH with a 24-hour urgent care centre instead of an accident and emergency department.

It was one of four recommendations raised, with some seen as "not clinically deliverable".

The independent review of the Future Fit process will now have to take place before a public consultation can be carried out.

'Still a way forward' over Future Fit

There is still a way forward with Future Fit, one of the programme's most senior officials has insisted.

Debbie Vogler, programme director for Future Fit, said that despite fresh delays she thought there was still scope to have a public consultation in 2017.

She was speaking at a meeting of Shropshire's Clinical Commissioning Group's governing body.

The CCG had gathered the day after a public meeting at which the four recommendations put forward by the board for the shake-up of emergency healthcare in Shropshire were rejected.

Against

The Future Fit review had recently recommended that the best of the four options would be to have one A&E serving Shropshire and Mid Wales at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Under those plans the A&E department at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital would be downgraded to a 24-hour urgent care centre.

The two-year-old, £28 million Women and Children's Centre which is also sited at Princess Royal Hospital would also move to Shrewsbury.

On Monday all six panel members from Shropshire CCG voted for taking the plans to public consultation and Telford & Wrekin CCG voted against.

It means a planned public consultation will now not go ahead until an independent review of the process has taken place.

The Shropshire CCG members spoke of their anger at the decision – and of their determination for the proposed changes to eventually become a reality.

Mrs Vogler said: "I think we can still move to public consultation some time in 2017 but for now we need to pause and have an independent review.

"Then we can move forward in the New Year.

"I am a little bit disappointed in the process issue but I think there is still a way forward."

Jane Randall-Smith, chief officer of Healthwatch Shropshire, added: "I am really disappointed that after hours of work and evidence we cannot move forward.

"Patients need a consultation to air their views."

Dr Julian Povey, clinical chairman of Shropshire CCG, said he saw the meeting on Monday as a way of showing support, not of creating more delays. He added: "We saw the meeting on Monday as a way of showing our support and we wanted to move the process on.

"However Telford & Wrekin did not feel that way and did not have the same thought process.

"We are profoundly disappointed by the decision.

"We wanted to take the preferred option to the public and get feedback and hear what they have to say."

Dr Simon Freeman, interim accountable officer, said: "Shropshire CCG members voted unanimously to bring the programme board forward.

"We are deeply concerned about the sustainability of the health care services for patients."

Dr Freeman added: "Because we are not able to go to public consultation for now patients have been denied the right to give an input to the necessary changes which need to be made.

"There is no point continuing a process that can't be solved.

"We need to consider what our options are.

"It has been an unfortunate set of circumstances."

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