Shropshire Future Fit consultation in sight

A meeting of Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group was told that NHS England wants to know the whole process can be paid for before it will give the green light for a public consultation to begin.

Dr Simon Freeman, accountable officer for Shropshire clinical commissioning group (CCG), said they were still waiting to hear any news, during a meeting of the organisation’s board yesterday.

But he said once the go-ahead is given, they would be in a position to start the public consultation within a month.

He said: “If we get the go-ahead on February 1 it would be likely we would start the consultation on March 1, maybe a little bit earlier or later.”

Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin CCGs have signed off on a preferred option, which is for a single A&E unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while planned services will be centred at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.

The consultant-led women and children’s unit will move to Shrewsbury under the plans, although Telford would retain a midwife-led unit.

Walk-in urgent care centres would be set up at both Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital.

The reorganisation is expected to cost in the region of £300 million.

Earlier this month a Shropshire Star poll revealed that nearly three-quarters of voters do not believe that the Future Fit process will come to an end this year.

As the new year began David Evans, chief officer for Telford & Wrekin CCG, defended the delay in the process, saying work that has taken place over the past four years had led to finding the “best way forward”.

But he added: “We think the time for talking amongst ourselves is over and the public’s views will help direct us and provide us with the right clinically sustainable way forward for the future.

“We know that to do nothing is not an option and we think it’s time to give everyone who uses our hospitals the chance to have their say.”