25/06/2014 - Permalink

State-of-the-art new £28 million women and children’s centre to open in Telford

Related topics: Health / Partner organisations

News from our partners Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

A new £28million centre for women and children is on course to open at the end of September 2014.

The state-of-the-art Shropshire Women and Children’s Centre will open at the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.

It will be the main centre providing care for women and children in Telford & Wrekin, Shropshire and mid-Wales.  The facility will be for:

  • Women who need a consultant-led birth
  • Gynaecology services where you have to stay overnight
  • Children who need to stay overnight
  • Children’s Oncology and Haematology care
  • Babies who need intensive and special care.

Cathy Smith, Women and Children’s Care Group Director and Head of Midwifery at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said:

“The Shropshire Women and Children’s Centre will be an excellent facility for the region.  Thousands of women and children over the years will benefit from this centre, and we’re looking forward to it opening in September.”

Before opening its doors to patients at the end of September, some of our younger patients are now able to use the facilities early.  The Children’s Ward at the PRH, which was located on Ward 14, moved into part of the new Children’s Ward (Ward 19) in May 2014.

It is the only part of the building which is open, with the rest of the building opening on Monday 29 September 2014 and Tuesday 30 September 2014.

Sister Rachel Triggs, Children’s Ward Manager at the PRH, said the move had gone well. She said:

“As far as patient care goes, nothing has changed.  We are still offering the same high level of service that we have always offered.  The play area is excellent and the garden room is a lovely area.  The staff are very happy at being in the new environment, which offers a much bigger area.”

Emma Woodward, a Staff Nurse on the Children’s Ward at PRH, said:

“There are better facilities for the staff and more spacious rooms for the patients and their families.  We have had some great comments from the parents, who have particularly singled out things like the parents’ room and the play room.  Everything is much better.”

Whilst women and children’s services are changing, most people accessing the service will continue to go to the same hospital as they do now.

Both the PRH and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) will still have a midwife-led unit, a children’s assessment unit, as well as outpatient services.

Women having a low-risk birth will still be able to chose to have their baby at home, at one of our five midwife-led units (at Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Shrewsbury, or Wrekin at PRH) or one of the midwife-led units provided by the Powys Teaching Health Board.

While the countywide review of health services (NHS Future Fit) continues, building the women’s and children’s zones at RSH has been put on hold.  This means that temporarily the:

  • Shrewsbury MLU will stay where it is
  • Maternity outpatients and scans will relocate to the vacated postnatal ward
  • Antenatal Day Assessment (PANDA) will also remain within the current RSH Maternity building
  • Children’s outpatients will move into the Rainbow Unit
  • Children’s Assessment Unit will move to be adjacent to A&E.

If you have any questions or comments about any of the changes to women and children’s Services please email future@sath.nhs.uk, call 01743 261183 or visit www.sath.nhs.uk/future.

Further information

  • The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is the main provider of acute hospital care for almost 500,000 people from Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, and mid-Wales.  Patients come to us from Telford, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Whitchurch, Newtown and Welshpool in Powys.
  • The Trust continues to work with its partners in health and social care in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire and mid-Wales to develop patient-focused services that meet the needs of our communities.