Daniel Kawczynski and Lucy Allan have quizzed officials from NHS England and Shropshire and Telford Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) over the future of NHS services for Shropshire.
Today’s meeting, held at Shirehall, Shrewsbury had been arranged by the Members of Parliament following the announcement in October that there would be a delay making a decision on the future of Accident and Emergency services in Shropshire.
The decision would have seen a location being chosen for a single A&E site for the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin area, but it was decided that the FutureFit programme could not progress any hospital reconfiguration option for consultation, until it more effectively tackles Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust’s deficit, estimated to be between £25 and £30 million.
Mr Kawczynski and Ms Allan were informed that CCGs had initially tried to push through a very ambitious programme for change and that they had now put together a revised and more realistic delivery plan which would see a decision on a preferred option being made available for public consultation in June 2016.
The next step is for CCGs to produce a deficit reduction plan, and MPs have asked that a detailed progress report be made available for them when they next meet with health officials in January.
Wendy Saviour, NHS England Director for the North Midlands area has given her reassurance that she will be overseeing and holding the CCGs to account over the forthcoming months to ensure that timescales detailed in the delivery plan are met.
Brigid Stacey, Accountable Officer for Shropshire CCG and David Evans, Accountable Officer for Telford CCG reiterated their commitment to the delivery of the FutureFit programme and gave an undertaking to ensure no local delays occur.
