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Oswestry Councillors holder posters stating that 93.2% of Oswestry says keep 2 A&Es

Oswestry Council hears local people's clear message about A&Es

27th March 2023

Oswestry Town Council has unanimously agreed to request NHS health managers to reconsider their Future Fit plan.

Oswestry Town Council has listened to Oswestry people and in support, unanimously agreed, at its recent Council meeting, to request NHS health managers to reconsider their Future Fit plan to reduce Telford's Princess Royal's A&E to an 'A&E Local' and have only one fully functioning A&E at Royal Shrewsbury.

A recent survey in the town found that 93.2% of those polled responded 'YES' to 'Should both Shrewsbury A&E and Telford A&E remain fully functioning A&Es? Oswestry people agree with nearly 1600 people polled across 11 Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin Towns.

Oswestry Green Councillor Mike Isherwood, who tabled the motion to the Town Council, says - "Concerned Oswestry people have made it clear they want the present two A&Es at Telford and Shrewsbury to continue as fully functioning A&Es". "Repeatedly we are told by people "In an emergency, every second counts" so why else do we see doctors and nurses running, ambulances with sirens and blue lights and emergency Air Ambulance helicopters flying to our rescue ?"

Information provided by the 'Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital Trust' (SaTH) in the year to October 2022, means that around 22,500 emergency patients, with life and limb threatening conditions, in and around growing Telford, will have at least 25 minutes longer 'blue-light' journey time to a single 'Emergency Department' at Royal Shrewsbury - a journey time reliant on clear road conditions.

Oswestry Mayor, Green Councillor Jay Moore commented - "Increased time to care clearly risks lives and best recovery. The right care is available now at Telford's Princess Royal - as it has been since 1998 - and at Royal Shrewsbury". "There's not enough care capacity and not enough often over-worked and under-valued clinicians. There is an acute obligation on SaTH, the Hospital Trust to develop a culture and reputation to attract and retain enough doctors and nurses to meet the needs of all Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin patients ".

Leader of the Green Group on Shropshire Council and Oswestry Town Councillor Duncan Kerr says - " It is clear most people are worried about the Future Fit plan for a single A&E at Shrewsbury. It is furthermore important that NHS managers listen and respond to so many peoples' clear voice. Oswestry Council is writing to the local and regional NHS management and to NHS England to ask for this part of the Future Fit plan to be reconsidered. It is certainly not too late to do this while the 'outline business case' is being prepared this year. The fresh new build hospital at Shrewsbury can be reconfigured to offer additional other patient services "

Notes

In the 12 months to Oct. 2022, 80600 patients attended Telford A&E and Urgent Care Centre. 67530 patients were treated in A&E. The Future Fit/HTP - Hospital Transformation Programme claims that one third, 22,510 patients, would need to travel from the Telford area to a single A&E in Shrewsbury.

The 'Future Fit' public consultation in late Summer 2018 failed to ask Shropshire and Telford residents if they wished to retain both A&Es as currently provided.

The aggregate public response of 1560 people across 12 Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin Towns to the survey question 'Should both Shrewsbury A&E and Telford A&E remain fully functioning A&Es ?' is 96.7% responding 'YES'.

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