Fears over future of cancer service at Shropshire hospitals
Radiotherapy services at Shropshire's hospitals could be downgraded – because health chiefs have not included the population of Mid Wales in their calculations.
Services provided by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust would be reduced to a "satellite unit" under NHS England proposals.
The county would fall into the lowest of three tiers of coverage as fewer than 500,000 people are deemed to live in the area covered by the hospitals.
But health chiefs have said that if Powys's population was included it would take the region above the threshold, enabling it to provide more services for patients.
Now a letter will be written to NHS England urging officials to reconsider their population forecast for the area.
The hospital trust, which runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford's Princess Royal, currently sits within the middle tier which provides radiotherapy treatment for common and less common cancers.
According to a clinical model put forward by NHS England as part of its Modernising Radiotherapy Services in England report, the lowest level would be able to treat common cancers.
But the middle tier – which hospital chiefs believe Shropshire should be in – would also be able to run gynaecology, head and neck and lymphoma treatment.
Dr Sheena Khaduri, a consultant in the cancer team at SaTH, told yesterday's meeting of the joint health overview and scrutiny committee: "Currently we serve a population of just over 550,000 which puts us in the middle tier. We believe this is appropriate as it represents the skills and expertise we have in the county.
"However NHS England only takes into account the English population we serve. It does not consider the patients we serve in Powys.
"The impact means these patients with less common cancers will be required to travel out of the county to get treatment which will add considerable distance."
Simon Wright, chief executive of SaTH, said he hoped letters from all of his organisation's partners would convince NHS England to reconsider.
He said: "We have a wonderful cancer service. We have great ambitions to extend the reach of our cancer services but all of that is at threat if this is allowed to continue unchecked.
"It seems perverse the population of Powys has no voice. Surely this is an oversight that can be remedied."
