Joint Health Scrutiny Committee Sends SOS to Secretary of State
The Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) of Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council has written to the Secretary of State (SoS) for Health and Care, the Rt Hon. Wes Streeting, to address their concerns about ongoing performance issues at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, and to discuss the role of the whole health and care system locally to meet the challenges.
They are seeking a meeting with the Secretary of State alongside local health leaders to find sustainable solutions for improving patient services and outcomes. The letter, shared with local MPs, will be published with the agenda for their meeting on 10 February 2025.
Cllr Geoff Elner, Joint Chair of the JHOSC, said:
“The work done by this committee over many years and most recently following the May 2024 CQC report and the C4 Dispatches Programme, has identified ongoing issues that must be addressed to deliver improved services and outcomes for patients.”
Cllr Fiona Doran, Joint Chair of the JHOSC, said:
“Writing to the Secretary of State is the natural progression for the committee. We’ve heard his ambition and plan for the NHS and we would like to invite him to work with us and our health and care system here in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, to achieve positive and sustainable improvements for our communities.”
The JHOSC was established to scrutinise health issues that impact on the wider health services available to residents in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.
The Committee, which is comprised of councillors from both authorities and a cohort of co-optees with expertise in the health system, have grown increasingly concerned about SaTH’s performance following consecutive ‘inadequate’ Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections, subsequent inspections in 2023 rating the Trust as ‘requires improvement’, the Channel 4 Dispatches programme which aired in June 2024, and possibly most importantly, from hearing the experiences of patients who use the service.
They have spent the remaining months of 2024 exploring the plans that have been shared with them to seek reassurance that lasting improvements would be achievable. After their meeting in December 2024, they decided that they needed to take the step of writing to the SoS.
Joint statement issued by Cllr Fiona Doran and Cllr Geoff Elner, joint Chairs of the Committee
“We took the decision to write to the SoS because the levels of performance in our hospitals have long been given a low rating by the Care Quality Commission. We believe that the different actions that have been taken over the past decade have not realised the lasting improvements that were expected.
“There are a lot of people working hard in health and care locally, in a system that is under significant pressure. We recognise this. However, our concerns and the issues which we have identified are only going to be addressed sustainably by the whole system working together at all levels to help people access the care and services they need.”
“We recognise that it is a locally challenged health and care system within a nationally broken NHS, as described by the SoS, and we want to work with the NHS locally to make improvements and get the support it needs to make it happen. We see this as the beginning of the next phase and hope that the SoS responds to our SOS.
“We’ve had a strong focus on the main hospitals in our area over recent years but also maintained a view of what is happening in our communities and how these services relate to what happens at the Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Whilst we’ll never stop looking at our hospitals, the system response to the meeting health and care needs in the community is resolving to be our next priority, and we look forward to working with all those who are involved.
“We value the experience of people who use health and care services and are fortunate that both HealthWatch Shropshire and HealthWatch Telford and Wrekin are co-opted members of our joint committee.”
Joint Statement from Healthwatch Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin:
“We support the work of the Joint HOSC, share concerns cited in the letter to the SoS and welcome the work Healthwatch England is doing in coalition with trade unions professional bodies, charities and patient groups in their call for an end to treating patients in corridors and other inappropriate spaces. Any patients and their relatives who have experience of treatment in SaTH are encouraged to contact their local Healthwatch, Shropshire or Telford and Wrekin, to help us to build up a local picture. We will share those experiences with Joint HOSC and Healthwatch England to ensure the patients voice is heard at the highest levels and seek improvements to services.”
Joint-letter about the dangers of ‘corridor care’ | Healthwatch