How are the needs of people in Shropshire and Telford being taken into account?
Patient and public representatives from across Shropshire and Telford have been involved in developing these proposals (see below).
The consultation process took place from 9 December 2010 to 14 March 2011 and was an important opportunity for patients and residents to tell us their hopes and concerns about these proposals, and for the NHS and local Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees to listen to the issues you raise and make the best possible decisions based on this.
What does this mean for the future of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital?
These proposals aim to ensure a vibrant and long-term future for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Most patients will continue to receive most of their care as they do now and the hospital would be strengthened as an acute surgery centre for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales for vascular surgery, upper gastrointestinal surgery and colorectal surgery as well as the main centre for major trauma. The hospital will continue to build and grow as a Centre Centre offering diagnosis, treatment and follow-on care including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This includes the major cancer development starting this spring thanks to £3.2m of donations from local communities through the Lingen Davies Cancer Relief Fund.
This will ensure a safe, sustainable and long-term future for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
What does this mean for the future of the Princess Royal Hospital?
These proposals aim to ensure a vibrant and long-term future for the Princess Royal Hospital. Most patients will continue to receive most of their care as they do now and the hospital would be strengthened as a women and children's centre for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales providing obstetric maternity, neonatal & special care baby and inpatient children's services.
This will ensure a safe, sustainable and long-term future for the Princess Royal Hospital
How are the needs of patients in Wales who use the hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford being considered as part of these plans? Does the Trust get paid for Welsh patients?
Powys GPs have been part of the Clinical Problem Solving Workshops and will be part of the Clinical Assurance Group, and there have been ongoing discussions with planners, providers and the CHC in Wales to ensure that the needs of patients in Wales continue to be considered.
There are no acute hospitals in Mid Wales and the nearest hospital for people in eastern Montgomeryshire and north east Radnorshire is in Shrewsbury. The population of mid Wales is too small and it is too sparsely populated to maintain a district general hospital in mid Wales. The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust receives funding for each Welsh patient it treats, which supports the services it offers to patients.
The issue of payment for services across the border was resolved from the 1st April 2009 when Welsh Commissioners were provided with sufficient funding to pay English Trusts at the English Payment by Results tariff. There is therefore now no difference between what Powys Local Health Board pays and what English Primary Care Trusts pay for hospital services.
How is the population changing?
The number of people over 65 will increase by 18% in Telford and Wrekin by 2012 (53% by 2022) and 17% in Shropshire County (44% by 2022).
The number of people under 15 is expected to decline in Shropshire County (7% by 2022) whilst it will grow in Telford & Wrekin (9% by 2022), although the absolute number of people under 15 in Shropshire County will continue to be higher than in Telford and Wrekin.
The increasing number of people over 65 and the increase in life expectancy has major implications for services which support independent living (e.g. for people with long term conditions) and where treatment is needed for conditions which are more common in the elderly (e.g. musco-skeletal services, cancer and heart disease).
When compared to national figures, Shropshire County is generally less deprived, with a low violent crime rate and a lower rate of teenage pregnancies. However, there are significant areas of localised deprivation within Shropshire County such as Oswestry and parts of Shrewsbury.
Available to download is a series of population pyramids showing how the profile of the population is projected to change in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Powys.