Traffic plan for hospital works set out

Shrewsbury's A&E is become an Emergency Centre, while Telford's is to be downgraded to an Urgent Care Centre

A one-way system will be introduced and the outpatient entrance at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital will shut as construction work at the site gets under way.

Traffic management plans about how patients can access the hospital as a new building is constructed, have been revealed.

Major hospital transformation plans for the county were finally approved in January and once the full business case is signed off nationally, building work could begin in the summer, the trust said.

Under the plans for acute services, Telford Princess Royal will lose its A&E, with Royal Shrewsbury to become the main emergency centre.

The plans aim to minimise the impact on patients, staff, and visitors at the hospital during the main construction works, which is expected to take a number of years, the trust said.

The one-way system will start after the Ward Block to the junction of Mytton Oak Road and Evolution Road. The helipad will move temporarily to the Boiler House recreation ground.

There will be an alternative entrance for the outpatient department.

Currently, the main road onto the site is being widened and realigned to maintain two-way access for ambulances and a separate road for construction traffic within the construction site, the trust said.

This will cause some disruption to this area until the work is complete, the spokesperson added.

The trust is holding an open day to present the proposals to the public on 4 June, between 16:00 and 18:00 BST at Shropshire Education and Conference Centre.

The transformation programme in the county was the "best way forward" to improve acute services, the health minister said earlier this year.

It will see consultant-led women and children's services will move from Telford to Shrewsbury.