28 August 2025
Orthopaedic joint replacement surgery which requires an overnight stay at Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford is to be paused. This is to enable vital work to take place to create a safer environment for our patients.
£1.2 million of NHSE funding is to be used to install state-of-the-art ventilation units on Ward 5, where patients stay to recover after having elective orthopaedic procedures.
The ward is expected to temporarily close for up to six months from Monday 15 September 2025.
Day case surgery, where patients are discharged on the same day as their procedure, will continue within the Elective Hub during this time.
Action is being taken to minimise the impact on joint replacement patients with additional surgery taking place at the weekends preceding the closure.
Patients who require joint replacement operations during the ward closure are being offered their procedure at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.
The ward is expected to reopen at the beginning of March 2026 and The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH), which runs the PRH, will then be able to treat all joint replacement patients including those with more complex needs.
Ned Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer at SaTH, said: “£1.2m of NHSE funding will be used to fund this huge project which will bring benefits to our patients when the service resumes. It will create a modern healthcare environment and will allow us to operate on patients with more complex joint replacement surgery needs.
“We are doing all that we can to minimise the impact on our patients by carrying out surgery in the weekends preceding the temporary closure and our colleagues at RJAH have kindly agreed to operate on appropriate patients due for surgery during this time.
“I would like to thank RJAH and also our patients for their support and understanding at this time. Please be assured this should not affect a patient’s place on the waiting list and any patients affected by the temporary change will be notified.”
If patients are contacted with an available date for their operation, they will be given all relevant information regarding their future care leading up to their planned surgery.