NHS proposals for hospital care in the county to be scrutinised
Shropshire Council and Telford and Wrekin Council’s Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee will consider the proposals put forward by the NHS for the future of hospital care in the county, at two meetings next week, the first on Monday 24 March 2014 at 4pm at Shirehall, Shrewsbury, and the latter on Wednesday 26 March 2014 at Wellington Civic Centre at 9.30am.
In 2013 the Joint Committee recognised that it would be unsustainable to maintain the current services at both hospital sites at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in the long term. In August the Committee asked the NHS organisations to work together, involving clinicians and local people, to find a solution that will ensure that high quality services will continue to be delivered in the county. The NHS carried out an extensive consultation as part of the “Call for Action” which than led to the development of the “Future Fit” programme which is looking at the future of acute and community hospitals.
Councillor Gerald Dakin, Shropshire Councillor and co-chair for the meetings, said:
“The Committee does not make the decisions about the future of local NHS services – but we will hold those making the decisions to account. The Joint HOSC has scrutinised the work of the hospital over a number of years and recognises that radical changes are needed within the local NHS to ensure that the people of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin will continue to receive high quality services within the county. We have seen evidence at the meetings last year that the NHS is working together to develop proposals. No decisions have yet been made about the hospital services. The meetings on Monday and Wednesdays are important stages in the process to ensure that there is a public discussion about the options that are being considered to ensure that they are based on the best clinical practice. We will also want assurance that the future evaluation of these options will take into account the issues that are important to local people.”
Councillor Derek White, Telford & Wrekin Councillor and co-chair of the meetings, said:
“The committee has had several update reports since we asked all the NHS organisations last year to work together with partners to find a long term solution to the problems our hospital trust faces. The meetings on Monday and Wednesday at will be the next stage in this process. The committee is chaired jointly by myself and Gerald Dakin from Shropshire Council, and we have made it clear that the work of the Joint Committee is not political – we will look at the evidence that is presented and scrutinise the proposals. Our role is to ensure that the decisions are made through an open process which fully involves local people and that the decision that will be made later in the year about the future of hospital services is in the best interest of the whole county.”
You can find the agenda for the 24 March meeting in Shrewsbury here, and the 26 March meeting in Wellington here.
