Leaders at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust have welcomed the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) latest reports showing sustained improvement whilst recognising services are under “immense pressure” and there is further to go.

The CQC inspected medical care and urgent and emergency care services at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in March 2026.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has upgraded the rating of urgent and emergency care at The Princess Royal Hospital in Telford from Inadequate to Requires Improvement, and has rated urgent and emergency care at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital as Requires Improvement again.

The CQC also inspected medical care at Princess Royal Hospital and re-rated it as Requires Improvement, and at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital upgraded the medical care rating from Requires Improvement to Good.

The overall ratings for RSH and PRH remain Requires Improvement the same as in 2024. PRH is now also rated as Good for the domains Well-led, as well as Caring.

Recognising the improvements in urgent and emergency care, the CQC also removed the final condition on the Trust’s provider licence in July, after 60 conditions were added in 2018.

The Trust, which is part of the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Community and Hospitals NHS Group, has welcomed the findings of the CQC’s reports, recognising there is more work still to be done to reduce waiting times and continue its digital, estates and quality transformation.

The inspection also highlighted examples of good practice and a “positive shift in culture” since the last inspection, with many staff feeling supported and able to speak up. The CQC found examples of staff who were kind, friendly and responsive and doing their best to treat patients with dignity and put people at the centre of their care and treatment choices.

The CQC highlighted a strong culture around safety and learning and a focus on continuous improvement and innovation happening in teams.

Jo Williams, Group Chief Executive, said: “Today’s reports reflect another important step forward in our improvement journey. The CQC has recognised the new services and improvements we have made since 2024; however, we do not underestimate the work still to do. Our patients continue to face unacceptable waiting times, and we are committed to accelerating our progress through investing in new services and more modern tools to enable colleagues to deliver the best care.

“I am proud the CQC has recognised the care and compassion of our colleagues. We will keep moving forwards to ensure that everyone who receives care, visits or works across our services are consistently treated with kindness and respect and experiences the highest standards of care.”

John Jones, Group Chief Medical Officer, said: “I am proud of the progress our colleagues are making and pleased the CQC have recognised the care, compassion and innovation shown by our colleagues. We have areas of excellent care but also recognise that the sustained pressures our colleagues are working in, is contributing to inconsistencies in care and experience for our patients.

“We will be reflecting on these reports and are already working on improvements that will continue to accelerate our progress, as we seek to consistently deliver the safest and kindest care for all the communities we serve.”

The Trust has further plans to improve care through its multi-million pound transformation programmes, focused on:

  • Digital transformation, including the introduction of ambient voice technology and electronic prescribing
  • Urgent and emergency care transformation, including investing in additional equipment to improve access to tests and investing in community services
  • Continuing to reduce waiting times for stroke and cancer services and providing faster access to scans and tests
  • Estates strategy, including the ongoing development of a bigger and more modern Emergency Centre at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital
  • Recruiting to gaps in staffing to deliver the right-sized workforce and continuing to reduce agency and bank reliance. Supporting our colleagues to complete their mandatory and specialist training.
  • Continuing our cultural transformation investing in a compassionate culture and a wellbeing strategy designed with our colleagues
  • Enabling patients to feedback, share ideas and involve them even more in their care.

Further information

Following their latest inspection the CQC has rated the services as:

Medical Care

  • RSH improved rating of Good overall (previously Requires Improvement):
    • Good for Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led domains
    • Requires Improvement (RI) for Safe domain
    • Improvement in two domains Responsive and Well-led since 2024.
  • PRH remains rated RI overall:
    • RI for Safe, Effective, Responsive domains
    • Good for Well-led and Caring domains
    • Improvement in the Well-led domain since 2024.

Urgent and Emergency Care

  • RSH remains rated RI overall:
    • RI for Safe, Caring, Responsive and Well-led domains
    • Good for Effective domain.
    • Improvement in the Responsive domain no longer rated inadequate and upgraded to RI.
  • PRH improved rating of RI overall (previously Inadequate):
    • RI for Safe, Responsive domains
    • Good for Effective, Caring and Well-led domains
    • An improvement in the Safe and Responsive domains no longer rated inadequate and upgraded to RI.