Shropshire Star

Indian Consulate asked to help prevent night-time closure of Telford's A&E

The Indian Consulate has been asked for help to secure staff from India so that a night-time closure of Telford’s A&E can be avoided.

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Simon Wright, chief executive of SaTH, Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies and Mayor of Telford & Wrekin, Councillor Raj Mehta, met with officials from the Indian Consulate in Birmingham

Simon Wright, chief executive of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies and Telford & Wrekin’s Mayor, Councillor Raj Mehta, met with officials from the consulate.

An overnight closure of the A&E department at Princess Royal Hospital is expected to come into force next month if additional middle grade doctors and nurses cannot be found.

Mr Wright and Councillors Davies and Mehta outlined the opportunities for middle grade A&E doctors and nurses from India to come and work at the PRH and asked what help could be given in promoting this in India.

Fantastic

Mr Davies said: “We must all work together and use any route we have to help solve the root cause of the planned closure of PRH’s A&E overnight, which is the lack of these key middle grade A&E staff and the difficulty in recruiting them.

“Telford and the wider Shropshire area is a fantastic place to live and work. We have a great offer and we need to do everything possible to attract new doctors and nurses.”

Mr Wright added: “It’s really heartening to see what can be achieved through pooling ideas and working together because what we’d all much prefer, is to find the emergency department staff that would enable both A&Es to stay open 24-hours-a-day seven-days-a-week.”

It comes as council leaders and MPs in the Midlands have sent a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock asking for a rescue plan from the Government to prevent the overnight closure.

One of the MPs who signed the letter is Emma Reynolds, who represents Wolverhampton North East.

Impact

She says she is worried about the impact it will have on her own constituents.

She said: “I’m very concerned by the proposals to close the Telford A&E overnight because of the pressure that is going to be put on New Cross Hospital.

“We have already had the overnight closure of Stafford hospital’s A&E, that’s already put pressure on our hospital.

“What I don’t want to see is my constituents in Wolverhampton and residents more generally, but also patients in Telford having to wait longer than they are at the moment.

“I think it would put undue pressure on New Cross. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be able to cope but I think that certainly the NHS will have to give New Cross more resources to prepare for extra ambulances at night coming from the Telford area, should the proposals to close Telford’s A&E go ahead.”

The letter to Mr Hancock was also signed by council leaders in Telford and Wrekin, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Stoke-on-Trent.

Nine MPs have also added their names, including Telford’s Lucy Allan.