Uncertainty over final decision on Telford's A&E

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’s board voted unanimously in favour of the overnight closure of A&E at Princess Royal Hospital last month, but final plans are still being drawn up.

Health bosses are now working towards bringing in the temporary closure on December 5, between the hours of 10pm and 8am, unless additional staff can be found.

The trust board heard during a meeting yesterday that work is still ongoing to ensure the plans can be put into place safely.

Nigel Lee, SaTH's chief operating officer, stressed the preferred option would be to keep both A&Es in the county open.

He added: "We are focussing on how we can keep our services open at the full amount until later in the evening.

"One of the major challenges remains the workforce."

Ben Reid, chair of the trust board, yesterday said a final decision would not be made by the board yet.

He said: "We are working hard to establish all the facts.

"We are trying to pull support in from wherever we can get it.

"A victory for us would be to withdraw the proposal. At the moment that looks unlikely."

Simon Wright, chief executive of SaTH, said the trust was working together with the wider community to "lift every stone to secure the workforce we need".

He said there was much work taking place to attract middle grade doctors and nurses and he expected any closure would be a "short term pressure" until the right levels of staff are recruited and it can reopen.

Mr Wright added: "Every conceivable action is being taken.

"We do not want to be in a position where we have to see this decision through."

Under the proposals being suggested if Telford's A&E does have to close overnight, extended urgent care centre services would see patients at PRH until midnight.

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.

Mr Wright told the trust board yesterday that SaTH did use locum doctors but a lot of them refuse to work at night.

The potential night-time A&E closure will again be placed on the agenda of next month's trust board meeting, but there are no guarantees of when a final decision will be made.