NHS: Panel says hospital revamp must include mid Wales

The A&E in Shrewsbury is set to be replaced by an upgraded "Emergency Centre", while Telford's will be downgraded

Despite health provision expansion in Powys, mid Wales patients should not be ignored in English hospital restructuring, a panel said.

About 10% of those currently using Shropshire and Telford NHS Trust services travel from over the border.

After four years of delays, the trust's hospitals transformation programme has been given the green light.

It was put on hold as the UK government looked at how Welsh patients will be treated in future.

This was because the leader of Telford and Wrekin council asked for the case to be referred to an independent body to consider where people from Powys received services.

Shaun Davies wrote to the UK government health secretary in March 2023, claiming a "significant expansion in the provision of healthcare" in the Welsh local authority meant it was incorrect to include the needs of mid Wales residents when making decisions about healthcare in Shrewsbury and Telford.

• Cross-border patients give input in hospitals rethink

• Major hospital revamp plans to go ahead

A business case for a health hub and a proposed new hospital facility in Newtown, Powys is due to be submitted to the Welsh government in the summer.

Despite this, a report by the UK government's independent reconfiguration panel has recommended that reorganisation goes ahead over the border in England as planned.

This includes an A&E in Shrewsbury being upgraded to the main emergency centre, while Telford hospital loses its A&E department, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Powys patients will continue to need access to emergency and planned care in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and the NHS Trust's data modelling has considered all activity, including from Powys, to determine future demand for their services which is included in the outline business case," it said.

"The panel concludes that the approach and evidence set out in the NHS Trust's strategic outline case and outline business case to consider the needs of the population of mid Wales remains correct and in line with national guidance on cross-border healthcare."

Council leader, Shaun Davies, argued that improvements to services in Powys meant that the needs of mid Wales residents should not form part of the plans

The report added that Powys Teaching Health Board planned to repatriate certain services to north Powys, including low complexity day cases, diagnostics and outpatient services, but were constrained to what could be provided in a "community hospital setting".

Powys Teaching Health Board said the report was a "vital step forward" in providing safe and sustainable hospital services for the region.

"Our rural communities… remain critically dependent on Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust for a wide range of planned and emergency services and particularly for time-critical access to life-saving care," it said.

"We welcome the recognition of this, both in the continued work by the trust on the hospitals transformation programme, and in the recommendation from the UK government's independent reconfiguration panel.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the trust in the development of the full business case as the final stage in the process."