A&E to be renamed Urgent Treatment Centre

The accident and emergency department at the Princess Royal Hospital will be renamed

Telford's accident and emergency department will be renamed an Urgent Treatment Centre when it is downgraded, the NHS trust which runs it has confirmed.

The leader of Telford and Wrekin Council had called for clarity, over concerns it might be called an "A&E Local".

Shaun Davies said that would have been misleading and would have confused people.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust is seeking to reorganise, with Telford becoming a centre for planned treatment and Shrewsbury becoming the county's hub for emergency medicine.

In December an Independent Reconfiguration Panel backed its proposals, but recommended the A&E Local title should not be used, because it might pose a "risk to patient understanding and safety".

The hospital trust said it had now received confirmation from NHS England the new urgent care service at the Princess Royal Hospital should be called an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC).

But it also said approximately two-thirds of patients who currently attended the accident and emergency department there would continue to access the care they need at the UTC.

It added the full business case for its plans was now in the final stage of the national approval process.

Mr Davies, who had campaigned to keep a full accident and emergency department in Telford, said he welcomed the announcement the term A&E Local would not be used.

But he added: "Let’s make this very clear: today’s announcement from the NHS confirms our fears.

“Telford won’t have an A&E. We will be the largest town in England without an A&E. We won’t have consultant-led women and children services."