December date for Telford night-time A&E closure
The planned overnight closure of Telford's A&E has been pushed back to December 5 - and the department is now expected to close from 10pm to 8am.
The emergency department at Princess Royal Hospital was due to close between 8pm and 8am from next month, following a decision by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust board.
But a report to the trust board, which meets on Thursday, says the planned overnight closure is due to happen in December instead.
It also revealed the department is now expected to close from 10pm to 8am.
Extended urgent care centre services will see patients at PRH until midnight.
The report by assistant chief operating officer Karen Barnett says: "We will monitor impact on staffing rotas through the initial weeks to ensure that we can safely staff the facility adequately whilst patients are in the department."
Ambulances will be diverted to neighbouring hospitals during the closure, forcing some patients to travel outside of the county.
It is also intended that patients admitted to other hospitals will be repatriated to the appropriate specialities at SaTH.
The trust says the decision to close A&E at PRH overnight has been taken due to staff shortages, with major gaps in consultants and middle-grade doctors.
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Recruitment efforts continue and the nursing workforce continues to be challenged with sickness and vacancies, the report states.
It says efforts are also continuing to find agency and locum medical and nursing staff to support the rota within A&E.
But it adds that 'the medical team remain concerned about the safety of a potential middle grade medical rota relying on locum / agency doctors'.
The report says: "Whilst there has been considerable amount of work done to date, there continues to be a significant amount required prior to a safe reduction in hours at PRH emergency department.
"Taking the learning from other systems that have undertaken this process, and recognising the complexity of the project, the requirement to review some options following feedback from the Clinical Senate, time constraints related to accessing the key individuals to partake in the macro-simulation exercise that tests SOPs and pathways, and the availability of the supporting project team, it is proposed that the team work towards an implementation date of December 5."
It says the trust board will be required to provide the final sign off on the plan.
Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies, who has called for the planned closure to be scrapped, said: "The council and the community have secured a small victory by having this pushed backed.
"However, the December date is looming.
"We’ve had nothing but passing the buck with this Government and it’s now important we demonstrate to this Government our demand for a Government-backed rescue plan to avoid this avoidable closure.
"I’m genuinely concerned about the safety of children if this overnight closure goes ahead."
