Shrewsbury health hub bosses determined to push on with plans as they narrow down locations
Health chiefs have received 47 suggestions for places to build a controversial hub that could house six GP surgeries.
Bosses behind plans for Shrewsbury Health Hub are narrowing down the locations in advance of a formal consultation in the new year.
But at a briefing meeting with the media on Monday they insisted that plans to relocate six surgeries from across the county town is something that they must take forward for the future of GP services.
Early proposals to build the health hub near Shrewsbury Town's Montgomery Waters Meadow ground, off Oteley Road, were revised following a huge public outcry.
"Forty-seven site suggestions were submitted by the stakeholders and public and now 14 remain as possible options," said a spokesman for the NHS in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.
"It is anticipated that the site options appraisal will now be completed in January 2023."
The spokesman added: "If we don’t find a pragmatic solution to these issues, we risk losing practices altogether."
Health leaders say the current model for patient care is a barrier to attracting GPs and involves them making large financial investments.
They say that the hub's new estate's model would relieve GPs of this burden as the building would be owned by the local NHS.
The site options appraisal was "revisited" following feedback from the public and people connected to the health service and they asked the public and so-called "stakeholders" to make suggestions.
"An Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) will be completed to measure impact on patients and public, including the impact on travel," the spokesman said.
A formal consultation is set to take place in the spring of 2023.
Simon Whitehouse, chief executive of the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System, said: "We are not merging practices or closing them down. We are working with our GP practices to make them sustainable.
"Hubs like this are not a new thing but the location will be important and we need to do the work on that."
But Mr Whitehouse admitted that "we will never suit all of the people all of the time".
Heath leaders say GP premises in Shrewsbury are in varying conditions; some are not fit for purpose and/or have insufficient space to meet demand.
They insist that the hub would focus on prevention and would mean a new way of working for GP colleagues, with a multitude of benefits.
The basic issue is that demand for health services has risen exponentially as 90 per cent of all patient contact is in primary care.
Pressures include growing patient lists, which have risen from 2,461 in 1948, and are closer to 9,000 today.
The NHS in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin has been given the opportunity to write a business case to apply for national funding which could secure £40-60 million.
