Future Fit: Last-ditch call for completely new hospital
A last-ditch attempt to persuade health chiefs to build a completely new emergency hospital will be discussed by councillors.
Telford & Wrekin Council's Conservative leader Andrew Eade wants a third option to be put to the public in the forthcoming Future Fit consultation – the creation of an entirely new emergency hospital between Shrewsbury and Telford.
The proposal is based on a hospital built in Northumbria, which has been visited by the Tory councillor as part of research into the issue.
Councillor Eade's suggestion will go before Telford & Wrekin's full council meeting next week.
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The Conservative has said he is concerned at the "limited options" which will be put to the public as part of the Future Fit Consultation.
It comes after plans from local health chiefs for the future of the county's hospitals received a major boost last week when more than £300 million of funding for the project was confirmed.
The current proposal include two options, where either Royal Shrewsbury Hospital or Princess Royal Hospital Telford become the home of the county's only emergency centre.
The preferred option put forward by health bosses is for RSH to become the the emergency centre, also taking on women and children's services from PRH.
The proposal would see PRH becoming a centre for planned care.
Councillor Eade said he wanted to force a rethink over the "disappointing" options suggested for consultation.
He said: "While fully welcoming the record levels of government funding and investment into our NHS health care in Shropshire, we are disappointed with the limited range of options now presented to the public for consultation.
“Over three months after first receiving our proposals for a new state of the art emergency care centre between Telford and Shrewsbury, it seems that the council’s response has been too little too late to have them included as part of the Future Fit consultation.”
He added: "We first visited the “outstanding” rated hospital system in Northumbria during November last year to see the fantastic groundbreaking emergency and urgent care facilities for ourselves.
“After further work, our call for an extraordinary Telford & Wrekin Council meeting to consider a similar state of the art emergency care centre between Shrewsbury and Telford was blocked by the council as not being urgent.
“This configuration would have ensured the continuation of our two major district hospitals and our four community hospitals across the county."
The motion will be discussed next Tuesday along with a separate motion from council leader Shaun Davies, seeking reassurances that the potential closure of A&E at PRH because of a lack of consultants is not a "back door" way of implementing Future Fit's preferred option.
