Telford and Shrewsbury's services to be harmonised under UK-wide UTC model

"INCONSISTENCIES” between Shrewsbury’s and Telford’s walk-in medical care will end once new “urgent treatment centre” standards are adopted locally.

Currently, the GP-led non-acute units next to the two hospitals’ A&E are run by separate companies with slightly different opening hours and procedures.

From October 2019, UTCs will take their place and will follow nationwide standards.

A joint Shropshire/Telford and Wrekin health committee will tomorrow hear that this government-mandated change is not part of the Future Fit plan, but new service providers will be expected to be “flexible” and “open to future innovation”.

In a report, senior officers from the region’s NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups say: “There are two accident and emergency centres within Shropshire.

One is located at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the other at Princess Royal Hospital, in Telford.

“Each has an adjacent GP-led walk-in service which treats patients assessed as not clincally requiring the specialist acute service of the emergency department, according to local criteria.

“Each service currently operates to a different specification.”

The authors add that the two centres are run by Shropdoc and IMH, and both contracts will end in 2019 with no option for extension.

“Therefore the CCGs have agreed the walk-in service will be replaced with the nationally-mandated UTCs,” they write.

“This will also end the service inconsistency on each site through a joint procurement under one service specification, one contract and, in line with national policy, one name.”

The document lists some of the NHS-wide UTC standards, which include giving patients an initial assessment within 15 minutes of arrival, issuing prescriptions and being open 12 hours a day.

Telford’s walk-in centre is currently open only 11 hours, 11pm-10pm, but this will change to 8am-8pm.

The authors, Telford and Wrekin CCG senior project manager Jon Hart and Emma Pryah, Shropshire CCG’s head of in-hospital, add: “This service development is not aiming to implement the Future Fit model. It is wholly in response to the need to implement nationally-mandated policy in 2019 and to replace two contracts which expire to ensure essential service continuity.

“That said, the CCGs recognise the need to ensure this procurement exercise delivers an interim solution.

“The service specification will specifically reference that the provider is expected to be open to future innovation and service development.

“The UTC contract duration to be offered will allow flexibility to enable the transition to the Future Fit agreed model.”

They write that the tendering process will last until the summer and the new contract will start in October 2019.

The report will be discussed by the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee when it meets at Shrewsbury Shirehall tomorrow.