Telford and Wrekin (TaW) Council has formally referred the decision to downgrade the A and E department at the Princess Royal Hospital and move its consultant-led Women and Children’s Centre to Shrewsbury to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock.
The Future Fit proposal was made by TaW and Shropshire’s Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) at the end of January following a 14-week consultation on proposals to separate planned and emergency healthcare between Shropshire’s two main hospitals. CCGs voted in favour of Future Fit’s ‘preferred’ option: planned, arranged operations in Telford and emergencies at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. The CCGs voted in favour of this ‘preferred’ option, despite the opposition of the majority of people who took part in the consultation.
TaW Council said it referred the decision because it says it is not in the best interests of health services in the area.
