18/12/2015 - Permalink

Discussions take place on maintaining safe, effective and dignified urgent and emergency care

Related topics: Health

News from our partners Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital (SaTH) NHS Trust

Senior clinicians and hospital leaders have met with health partners and patient representatives to discuss the best way of keeping patients safe in the event of fragile services becoming unsustainable.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, is seeking views from staff, partners, patients and their families over what short-term measures could be taken ahead of a decision by NHS Future Fit, which will define the future of healthcare for generations to come.

Doctors, nurses and other health professionals in emergency care and also in acute medicine, critical care and other specialties, tell us how fragile some of our services are, and it is therefore vital that we must have contingencies in place should the continued safe, effective and dignified running of these services become unsustainable because there are not enough staff to provide a safe service 24-hours a day in two A&E departments.

As part of that contingency planning, SaTH leaders – including doctors, nurses and support staff – met with healthcare partners and patient representatives this week to look at what scenarios should be considered should a ‘tipping point’, where safe services could no longer be maintained, be reached. These included the possible, temporary overnight closure of one of our two A&E Departments at some point in the future.

Debbie Kadum, Chief Operating Officer at SaTH, said:

“We must emphasise that we are doing everything we can to avoid reaching a tipping point, including continued national and international recruitment and extending the recruitment of Emergency Nurse Practitioners. We are also reviewing shift patterns in order to best meet times of high demand.

“Continuity planning is part and parcel of normal business and we have continuity plans for a whole range of scenarios in our hospitals, but clearly Emergency Departments have a much higher profile than many of the other things we discuss.

 “The discussions we are having are about looking after our patients and looking after our staff. It is about responding if – and only if – a tipping point was reached so that we can continue to fulfil our obligations to our patients and communities.

“This is not something we ever want to implement and is absolutely not part of our Winter Plan or a way of closing one of our A&E Departments ‘by the back door’.

“We do not pretend that we have all the answers, and this meeting provided some excellent views for us to look at in greater detail. What the meeting emphasised is that there is no easy answer. That is why we set out on the journey with NHS Future Fit to begin with. If there was a simple solution to the NHS Future Fit debate, we would have implemented it some time ago.

“We have seen reports from some people saying it is ‘obvious’ that we would close the A&E at Shrewsbury overnight if we reached a tipping point, while others have said it is ‘obvious’ we would close Telford. There is no ‘obvious’ choice, and that is why we want to consider as many views as possible.

“With continued demand for hospital care, I would like to give my personal thanks to the teams in our Emergency Departments, in local hospitals and across local health and care services for their compassion and commitment.

 “I would like to thank everyone who has already shared their concerns and hopes.”

If you have any views on these issues we would love to hear from you. You can share your thoughts by emailing consultation@sath.nhs.uk or writing to the Chief Operating Officer at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Mytton Oak Road, Shrewsbury, SY3 8XQ or at the Princess Royal Hospital, Apley Castle, Telford, TF1 6TF.

For more information visit www.sath.nhs.uk/bcp