As some of you may have seen already, our Chief Executive, Louise Barnett, last week published an Open Letter to our communities in response to the recently published final report of Donna Ockenden’s Independent Review of Maternity Services at our hospitals.
The letter, which can be seen in full at our website (www.sath.nhs.uk), sets out again how truly sorry we are as a Trust, to everyone in the communities we serve, including the women and families who have experienced pain and loss.
The letter reinforces our commitment to build on the work we have done to date and urgently take further action to make our maternity services as safe as possible for women and families. It further sets out how we will take forward urgently all of the findings and recommendations set out in Mrs Ockenden’s important report.
I would ask you please to read the full letter to see how we are responding to the issues raised – including the actions set out in the first report from December 2020 – to ensure we deliver the best possible maternity services that you, the people in our communities, rightly deserve.
The health and care system in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin is working together to transform local eye-care and wants to hear about people’s experiences of using the current services. The aim is to improve the experience of patients and staff working in eye-care services by looking at the way people access care, how they manage their condition, and how the services work together and share information.
To do this is vital to hear from those of you who have used the services to understand what is working well and where changes may be needed, so, if you are a service user and if you can, please do take a few minutes to fill in the short survey. The survey, which closes on Sunday 24 April, can be found at www.shropshiretelfordandwrekinccg.nhs.uk, you can call 074848 80804 to complete it over the phone, or you can email stwccg.eyecaretransformation@nhs.net to ask any questions or provide feedback.
Finally, both as a Trust and across the whole of the health and social care system in our county we are still seeing an unprecedented demand for our services and COVID-19 remains an ongoing issue for us to manage.
If you are thinking about attending A&E please consider whether our emergency department is the right place to go for the care you need. A&E is for genuinely life-threatening emergencies – for example chest pains or severe bleeding or burns. If you have a life-threatening illness or injury please continue to dial 999.
But if your condition is not life-threatening, please think of the different treatment options available and visit your local pharmacy or NHS 111 online which will advise you where to go for advice or treatment.
Also, please take simple precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19 by washing your hands regularly, keeping a distance and wearing a mask in crowded settings.
Thank you all for your continued support.