New Cross to take the bulk of extra patients when Telford's A&E closes overnight
New Cross Hospital will receive the vast majority of extra patients caused by the overnight closure of Telford’s A&E department – as it emerged an extra three ambulances a night will be needed to cater for the increased demand.
Bosses at West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) have started preparing for the move, which has been proposed by Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust (SaTH) due to staff shortages.
In a report to the WMAS foundation trust board, CEO Anthony Marsh said most patients from the Princess Royal Hospital would be transferred to Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital – a journey of 23 miles.
And the additional travelling time meant that three additional ambulances would have to be brought into service, he added.
Wolverhampton MP Emma Reynolds, who has urged the Government to block the closure, said it was vital that WMAS was provided with extra resources to cope with the increased demand.
Closure
Mr Marsh said: “Discussions are taking place around the potential for a closure of the emergency department at the Princess Royal Hospital between the hours of 8pm (sic) and 8am, as a result of the hospital having significant staffing shortages in their medical and nursing workforces.
“If the closure takes place, some patients will continue to be taken to the hospital with direct access to wards; for example stroke, cardiac and fractured neck or femur patients.
“Any patients in the Telford area needing to be taken to an emergency department would predominantly go to New Cross, Wolverhampton, with a small number going to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Royal Stoke Hospital.”
“We have undertaken some modelling work that suggests we would need to provide three additional ambulances overnight to compensate for the additional travelling time, and we are awaiting confirmation from the Clinical Commissioning Group that the additional resource will be made available."
SaTH has said it will have to pay out around £3.5m to mitigate the impact of the closure on other hospitals, although no precise details have been revealed.
Ms Reynolds, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East, has called on ministers to step in and bloc the closure, which she says has been 'very badly thought through'.
She said today: "The trust seems determined to go ahead with this closure. If it does go ahead, extra resources must be provided for the ambulance service.
"And extra staff will be needed at New Cross to deal with the additional ambulances. It is clear they have not got a proper plan for the A&E closure."
