£24m boost to improve planned care facilities for local population

Press release issued by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust on behalf of the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System:

A new £24 million planned care hub is being purpose-built which will improve services and reduce the time that patients from Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales are waiting for their operations.

The new hub will provide more theatres and recovery beds dedicated to day case surgery, substantially increasing the number of same day operations that can take place – and enabling services to be provided all year round.

Patients will benefit from fewer cancellations and delays for treatment, shorter waiting times and a much-improved experience.

Work has already started on developing the new facility at the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford and it is expected to start taking patients next summer.

This development is a key part of long-term plans to deliver improvements in care for all the population and support two thriving hospital sites. The planned care hub is fully aligned with the Hospitals Transformation Programme (HTP), which will see the Telford hospital site specialise in planned care and the Shrewsbury hospital site specialise in emergency care, with both sites providing 24/7 urgent care services (delivered through an A&E Local model in Telford).

Louise Barnett, Chief Executive, said: “This is a significant investment in our Telford site which will improve the care that we provide to all our communities.

“The new dedicated planned care hub will enable us to deliver day case surgery all year round, so patients from Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales waiting for treatment will benefit from shorter waiting times for their operations.”

Dr John Jones, Medical Director (Acting), said: “The new planned care hub will mean that operations can be performed quickly and effectively in one place which is fantastic news for our patients.

“As well as shorter waits for surgery, they will be more likely to go home on the same day and will be less likely to need additional treatment after surgery leading to much improved outcomes and patient experience.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

• For more information on the Hospitals Transformation Programme (HTP), including a Q&A, visit – Hospitals Transformation Programme – STWICS

• The HTP will transform the delivery of acute hospital services across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales:

Excellent Planned Care Services

The Princess Royal Hospital site will specialise in the delivery of planned care, ensuring that operations continue to be performed throughout the year, and bringing additional benefits for patients including:

• Fewer cancellations and delays for operations
• Shorter waiting times for cancer care
• Better patient experience

Streamlined and Effective Emergency Services

The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital site will specialise in emergency care, benefitting patients through immediate access to medical and surgical specialist teams based at the same location.

The creation of a new, purpose-built, right-sized Emergency Department for all of our patients will help to ensure that:

• Patients are seen more quickly by the most appropriate specialist teams
• Patients experience more rapid diagnosis and shorter hospital stays
• Improved patient flow, with shorter patient waiting times, and faster ambulance handover times

24/7 Urgent Care Services  

Both the Telford and Shrewsbury sites will provide 24-hour urgent care services, improving access for the assessment and treatment of a wide range of illness and injuries.

Telford will benefit from a new enhanced urgent care service, an A&E Local model, staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of health, care and community professionals. This will mean that around two thirds of patients currently treated at Telford’s A&E department will continue to receive the care they need at their most local hospital.

Women and Children’s Services

Women and Children’s inpatient services will be based in Shrewsbury ensuring higher risk maternity cases and children admitted under the care of specialist paediatricians, have immediate access to on-site medical and surgical specialists and other experts.

Both hospital sites will provide a range of assessment and maternity outpatient and scanning services, along with midwife-led birthing units for low-risk births. This means that the majority of expectant mothers will continue to receive their antenatal and postnatal care at the site closest to home.