Future Fit initial business case submitted to NHS for formal approval

The plans for Future Fit, which has been renamed the 'hospitals transformation programme', will need to be approved by NHS bosses before the details are made public.

Under the scheme, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital will house the county's main A&E, with Princess Royal Hospital in Telford due to get an 'A&E local'.

PRH will also take over responsibility for planned care but is due to lose its consultant-led women and children's services.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, has now confirmed that the draft strategic outline case was submitted to the NHS at the end of last month.

It is not known how long it will take for a decision to be made.

The project's cost has grown to £533 million from its original £312m budget, largely due to inflation.

Health bosses say the scheme will deliver safer care, better outcomes for patients and reduce cancellations of planned care.

It comes as the trust says it is facing extreme pressures and unprecedented levels of demand for urgent care.

There have also been recent reports of significant waiting times for ambulances handing over patients to the hospitals.

Hospitals chiefs say they are undertaking major investment to increase the trust’s urgent and emergency care capacity, including a £9.3m expansion of the emergency department at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while they say the Future Fit plans will help address pressures in the long term.

However, the scheme to reshuffle services has been met with protest over the years.

The plans were reviewed under the instruction of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock in 2019, following a request from Telford & Wrekin Council, after being confirmed by the local clinical commissioning groups in January of that year.