All but one of 60 registration conditions placed on Shropshire hospitals by CQC has now been lifted after 'good progress'
Shropshire’s main hospitals trust now only has one Care Quality Commission (CQC) condition to meet after it was revealed it has jumped 17 places in national league tables.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) which runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal in Telford had 60 conditions placed on it following inspections by the CQC. The latest CQC report published in May 2024 gave SaTH a rating of ‘requires improvement’.
SaTH's chief executive is set to tell her board colleagues on Thursday (January 15) that conditions regarding the emergency care of under-18s at both centres have now been lifted.
“The CQC has approved the trust’s application to remove specific registration conditions for emergency care of under-18s at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital,” a report from chief executive Jo Williams said.
The conditions had required monthly reports on the number of under-18s not triaged within 15 minutes or not seen by the paediatric team within one hour, including any avoidable harm.
It also included providing the results of audits and data to “assure effective management of children in emergency care and details of children who left the department without being seen, and any harm or follow-up".
The removal of the latest Section 31 oversight conditions means there is one left. It covers a requirement to carry out an initial assessment of all patients within 15 minutes of arrival to emergency departments.
The chief executive’s report added that the trust is “currently making good progress with this, and it will be reviewed in the next few months".
The latest CQC report published in May 2024 gave SaTH an improved rating of ‘requires improvement’.
Mrs Williams is also set to tell her board colleagues that SaTH jumped up 17 places in league tables published last month.
Her report read: “On December 11, 2025, NHSE [NHS England] published the National Oversight Framework (NOF) results and thanks to the dedication, determination and hard work of our colleagues we are now in the top 100.
“This is the second time these quarterly results have been announced, and in the last three months we have jumped 17 places and are now positioned at 96 out of 134 trusts for quarter two.
“This means we are no longer in the bottom quartile.”
The trust is still subject to the highest level of oversight but Mrs Williams said this is “largely because of our financial position as we are still in the financial recovery support programme”.
“Any trust which has a financial deficit cannot move beyond NOF 5.”
Mrs Williams, the group chief executive at both SaTH and Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust (Shropcom), added that the trust has made “significant progress” but there is more work ahead.
She added that she is “filled with optimism for the year ahead” following a decision last year to bring the boards of SaTH and Shropcom together.
Her report thanked staff and partners for their dedication over the Christmas and new year period.
“I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all staff members for their dedicated commitment to patient care throughout the festive period.
“My thanks go to colleagues who prioritised our patients’ needs above time with their families.
“While we acknowledge that further improvements are needed in our emergency care performance, this year has shown significant progress compared to last year.“
