Future Fit : Copying other ideas ‘will not work’
More than 40 ideas were considered as part of Shropshire’s Future Fit process – and replicating models of healthcare from other areas of the country will not work, health bosses have insisted.
The process, which will decide the future of hospital services in the county, has taken more than four years so far.
A public consultation is likely to start soon, with a decision on NHS funding for the process expected imminently.
Telford’s Conservative Group leader Andrew Eade wants to see a new specialist emergency care centre in the county, based on one built in Cramlington, Northumberland.
He is calling for it to be an additional option in the Future Fit consultation, with Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital retained as sites for planned care.
Bosses behind the Future Fit shake-up have insisted they have looked at similar health models in other areas of the country and considered more than 40 initial ideas. But they say each health model was specifically designed to fit the needs and existing facilities of a particular area and population.
Future Fit spokeswoman Pam Schreier said: “Our priority has always been to find the best possible model of hospital care for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.
“In developing our proposed model of hospital care, we considered over 40 initial ideas which included various options of having a three-site hospital model with a single emergency care site.
“We have looked at national best practice and guidance as well as similar health systems across the country, including Northumbria.”
“The model they have adopted in Northumbria is one of several variations of models across England that involve separate emergency and planned care sites. Others include Dorset and Calderdale and Huddersfield.
She added: “Although our proposed model also includes separate emergency and planned care sites, it would not be possible to exactly replicate any other model as each one has been specifically designed to fit the needs and existing facilities of a given geographical area in order to meet the needs of that population.”
But Councillor Eade claimed has rejected this view, claiming that if the Northumberland model was replicated in Shropshire it would save money and improve outcomes for patients. He said: “I don’t accept that at all. I would like to see the business case that says why it wouldn’t work. They should make that case to the public so that it can be scrutinised. Future Fit is now hoping to spend £311m on an outdated hospital configuration without giving our community in Shropshire and beyond the chance to comment on alternative arrangements.”
Dr Julian Povey, chair of Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, has said the emphasis now has to be on consulting on the two options put forward by the Future Fit board.
The preferred option involves a single A&E unit at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while planned services would be centred at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.
It also involves moving the consultant-led women and children’s unit to Shrewsbury, although Telford would retain a midwife-led unit.
Mark Cheetham, care group medical director at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, has also previously insisted a plan for a new hospital would not work and would not deal with staffing issues currently faced by hospitals in the county.
Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital was England’s first purpose-built specialist emergency care hospital when it opened in 2015.
Its opening led to the downgrading of A&E units to urgent care centres at Hexham, Wansbeck and North Tyneside hospitals.
