Telford MP Lucy Allan has criticised the announcement that Future Fit will only be implemented at the by earliest by 2021.
Under plans drawn up by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, the decision about the location for Shropshire’s sole Critical Care Unit will not be made until June 2017. A public consultation is to run from December 2016 until March 2017.
The building work necessary to bring the Critical Care Unit to the Princess Royal is estimated to take 3 years and 6 months costing £102m to complete. If this unit were to be located at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital it would take 5 years and 9 months to complete and could cost £195m.
Commenting, Lucy said: “The news that patients are likely to wait around 5 years until Shropshire’s redesigned emergency care is up and running is hugely disappointing. The process for deciding on the location of Shropshire's new critical care unit has been tortuous. That it will have taken almost 4 years to decide where to locate the unit seems incredible.
“The Princess Royal Hospital is the the best location for this new unit. Telford, with its rapidly growing population, good transport links and with the excellent women and children’s centre already in situ, makes it the obvious choice. Given that locating the unit at the Princess Royal would cost less and take less time to complete, it's difficult to understand why the decision is taking so long.
“The uncertainty created by this lengthy process is bad for patients and residents alike and has been a real source of concern - many people tell me they feel let down by Future Fit.”