Andrew Stephenson MP, Minister of State for Health, has confirmed that the government will not stop Future Fit hospital transformation plans but an independent panel says use of the term A&E Local must stop because it is “a risk to patient understanding and safety.”
The advice comes following reconsideration of Future Fit plans by a government appointed Independent Reconfiguration Panel because Telford & Wrekin Council urged them to take another look in view of the latest population and health data.
In a letter to the council, Andrew Stephenson MP confirmed that plans to downgrade the A&E at the Princess Royal Hospital and to move consultant-led emergency care for women and children to Shrewsbury would still go ahead, subject to a raft of new recommendations made by the panel.
Leader of the council, Councillor Shaun Davies (Labour) said: “I would like to thank the panel for their work in re-looking at Future Fit plans and for the new recommendations they have made.
“Their advice recognises the need for further capital funding for our hospital buildings and to ensure residents are involved in the development of transport and travel plans to improve access to both sites.
“It also calls for the use of the term A&E Local to stop. The Princess Royal will be left with an enhanced urgent treatment centre. You can’t call something an A&E if it isn’t one. It’s confusing for people and potentially dangerous if they go to the wrong place expecting to receive the emergency care they need.”
Professor Sir Norman Williams, Chair of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel said: “The panel shares the view of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine that the use of the term A&E for anything other than a Type 1 emergency department presents a risk to patient understanding and safety.
Councillor Davies continues: “Despite this, confirmation from the government that plans to downgrade emergency care at the Princess Royal will go ahead is a bitter blow for people in Telford and Wrekin. I am beyond disappointed that the Minister has chosen not to halt the plans.
“If he came to Telford to speak with people in the borough, he’d hear first-hand the impact that Future Fit changes will have on them.
“When parents are making four hour bus journeys each day just to be with their sick children, when people lose loved ones because they can’t get to Shrewsbury in time, it will be too late. Our residents will have to live with the consequences of this decision for generations to come.”
Councillor Paul Watling, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Transformation (Labour) said: “When residents were consulted on Future Fit plans in 2018, 2 in 3 people disagreed with moving emergency care to Shrewsbury. They were ignored.
“We have done everything we can to get the government to sit up and listen to Telford and Wrekin’s residents on this issue, delivering over 20,000 signatures right to the door of No 10 Downing Street and challenging the outdated plans with the latest data.
“The government’s decision is bad news for people in our borough. We deserve better.”
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