Shropshire Star

Almost all outpatient appointments cancelled at orthopaedic hospital

Shropshire's specialist orthopaedic hospital is suspending non-essential work and ending face-to-face outpatient consultations.

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The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, near Oswestry, is making changes to the way its outpatient services operate amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The trust said face-to-face consultations would not take place unless there is 'safety-critical need' and patients are being offered telephone appointments where possible.

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Only essential contact is taking place.

A statement from the trust said: "We are ceasing all face-to-face outpatient consultations unless there is a compelling, safety-critical need for a physical visit to the site.

"All non-essential work is currently being suspended.

"Essential contacts will, wherever possible, be offered as a telephone appointment instead wherever possible, and we are contacting patients affected directly."

The news came after the hospital restricted all visits and put out an appeal for people to stop stealing hand sanitiser and toilet roll from wards.

The only people now allowed to visit the hospital in Gobowen are those seeing people in end-of-life care or relatives with exceptional circumstances.

And the trust posted on Twitter that patients were being put at risk due to thefts from the hospital by a "small minority".