Future Fit hospitals shake-up hit by further delays

Once complete the strategic outline case will be submitted to NHS bosses for formal approval.

Bosses say it is down to delayed approval, with NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) having needed to approve a request for an external consultancy to work with the trust to finalise the plans.

Under the scheme, which has been renamed the 'hospitals transformation programme', Royal Shrewsbury Hospital will house the county's main A&E, with Princess Royal Hospital in Telford due to get an 'A&E local'.

PRH will also take over responsibility for planned care but is due to lose its consultant-led women and children's services.

A report, which will be discussed by the hospital trust's board of directors during an online meeting today, says: "At the end of May, NHSEI approved the request to engage an external consultancy to work with the trust to finalise the strategic outline case (SOC).

"PA Consulting commenced working with the trust at the start of June, have now undertaken a gap analysis and are finalising a detailed delivery plan for the finalisation of the SOC, working closely with the programme teams.

"Due to the delayed approval, the draft SOC is now scheduled to be finalised at the end of August and to run through internal and system governance processes in September."

The report says a series of internal workshops have taken place to explore the 'clinical and operational feasibility of accelerating the delivery of key elements of the acute transformation'.

The costs and benefits are being assessed, and work is also taking place to find the best ways to deliver care in the community in the future.

The Future Fit project's cost has grown to £533 million from its original £312m budget, largely due to inflation.

It has secured funding for the initial amount but the report warns that there could be further delays if the 'affordability gap' cannot be resolved.

Other risks, which could also affect timescales, include the availability of key staff, as many have carried forward large holiday entitlements from the previous year.

Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski met Chancellor Rishi Sunak last month and called on him to release the necessary funding for the project as part of the Government's autumn comprehensive spending review.

He told him the "people of Shropshire urgently need the project to begin to see an improvement in their hospital services".

Mr Kawczynski is awaiting his reply.

Health bosses say the scheme will deliver safer care, better outcomes for patients and reduce cancellations of planned care at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs both hospitals.

However, it has been met with protest over the years.

The plans were reviewed under the instruction of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock in 2019, following a request from Telford & Wrekin Council, after being confirmed by the local clinical commissioning groups in January of that year.