Council sets record straight after claims at PMQs
Following comments made today at Prime Minister’s Question Time, the Council must correct statements made in Parliament by Daniel Kawczynski MP on the subject of the Future Fit hospital reconfiguration and put the record straight.
Mr Kawczynski claimed that the Council had prevented Future Fit‘s progress over the last six years. This is incorrect
Future Fit has been a six year process designed by the NHS. Each step of the way, Telford & Wrekin Council has not only attempted to seek the best deal for Telford and Wrekin but for Shropshire as whole.
The only intervention the Council has made through this process has been its referral to the Secretary of State for Health in March 2019. This was in line with the deadlines set by Government for making comments as part of the process and did not delay the process and to reiterate, any deadlines for making comments set by the Health sector throughout the entire process have been complied with by this council.
The fact that the Secretary of State for Health in October 2019 chose to make alterations to Future Fit plans following this referral shows it was fully justified.
Every decision that has delayed the process has been made by the NHS, not the Council.
For the record, the facts of the Future Fit timeline and its delays are as follows:
• October 2014 – Future Fit rules out a new hospital site between Shrewsbury and Telford because of costs
• December 2016 - The area’s two Clinical Commissioning Groups, both NHS bodies, chose not to progress a Future Fit Board recommendation on a preferred option and requested an independent review of Future Fit’s decision making processes. This delayed further progress until August 2017.
• August 2017 - a Future Fit joint committee agreed on a preferred Future Fit Option to go out to public consultation.
• May 2018 - The NHS consultation on Future Fit begins and runs until September 2018.
• November 2018 – NHS publishes Future Fit consultation outcome.
• January 2019 - Joint Committee of Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin CCGs unanimously votes for Option 1: Emergency Care site at RSH, Planned Care site at PRH
• March 2019 – Telford & Wrekin refers CCGs decision to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care within the deadlines set by Health.
• October 2019 –, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care publishes review of this referral and requests the NHS England advise on how an “A&E Local” model at PRH can be delivered
• December 2019 – media reports significant increases in Future Fit’s costs to an estimated £498 million, up from £312 million
As can clearly be seen from the summary timeline, for Mr Kawczynski to continually accuse this council of delay is disappointing and disingenuous. Instead we urge Mr Kawczynski to work together with us and the borough’s MPs to help find a solution to the overspend that now threatens Future Fit and to deliver the best health care services across Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.
