More than 12,000 sign petition to save Shropshire hospital's emergency services.
Telford’s Princess Royal could lose its 24-hour A&E department
Over 12,000 people have signed an online letter to Health Secretary, Theresa Coffey in less than 24 hours, urging her to rethink hospital transformation plans in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.
The NHS4All campaign launched on 4 October to give people a voice on controversial plans that will see Telford’s main hospital, the Princess Royal, lose its 24-hour A&E and emergency care for women and children as it becomes a centre for planned care.
The latest plans, called the Strategic Outline Case for hospital transformation, were approved by the Government and NHS England Investment Committee in August.
If plans go through unchanged, Telford will become the largest town in England without a full A&E, despite the borough aging and growing faster than most other areas across the country.
Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Shaun Davies said: “Since launching the NHS4All campaign yesterday, we’ve seen a tidal-wave of public support.
“Within the first 30 minutes, 300 people had signed the letter to urge a U-turn on hospital transformation plans. By 8.30pm, 10,000 people had signed. The numbers just keep rising.
“People feel really strongly that the Princess Royal Hospital needs a full A&E service and that emergency care should continue to be offered from the purpose built Women and Children’s Centre, opened only eight years ago.
In October 2021, proposals costing around ÂŁ500 million to make the Princess Royal a centre for planned care and move emergency care to the Royal Shrewsbury were put forward to NHS England and NHS Improvement.
These plans were rejected with health leaders being asked to come up with a cheaper option for change which met the ÂŁ312 million budget allocation.
In summer when the plans were approved, the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust said in a statement: 'This new model of care was designed, led and supported by clinicians, and will see patients benefit from fewer cancellations and delays for planned procedures and a more streamlined and effective emergency care service, with fewer ambulance handover delays, delivered from a dedicated, modern Emergency Department.'
Louise Barnett, Chief Executive of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which runs both acute hospitals, said: “The Hospitals Transformation Programme aims to improve both the quality of patient care and the sustainability of the services that we provide to our communities.
“We simply cannot continue with the current service configuration because it will not be able to meet the future needs of our population and gives rise to significant workforce issues.
Simon Whitehouse, Chief Executive Officer for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said: “The Hospitals Transformation Programme is a key part of our overarching plans to transform health and care services across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales. We remain committed to achieving the ambitions of the Future Fit consultation so that we can improve quality, safety, experience and outcomes for local people.
“The £10million of funding announced recently to create an elective surgical hub at the Princess Royal Hospital is also fantastic news. This development fully aligns with the Hospitals Transformation Programme.”