At a meeting organised by Philip Dunne MP, which brought together NHS bosses, GP’s and patients groups, clear indication was given Ludlow Hospital is likely to be upgraded to an Urgent Care Centre, provided there is enough local support.
Chief executives of both Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust both indicated that they see rural UCCs in our community hospitals, including Ludlow, as likely, and GPs from both Station Drive and Portcullis surgeries are supporting the campaign. Shropshire CCG's board last week confirmed an allocation of £5.1million annual funding for a combination of already planned services and proposed upgrades for up to five rural UCCs in community hospitals in north and South Shropshire.
Mr Dunne said: “I was pleased to be able to bring together local stakeholders to discuss plans to deliver an Urgent Care Centre for Ludlow.
This was an encouraging meeting, in which Shropshire CCG and Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust both indicated clearly they believe Ludlow Hospital will become an Urgent Care Centre.
There is clearly work to be done to define what that will mean, in terms of services that can be provided with suitably skilled clinicians, and will have sufficient volume of patients to be properly utilised. The GP surgeries have a vital role to play in helping define this, and it is encouraging that Portcullis Surgery and Station Drive are both committed to bringing this about.
We agreed to reconstitute the Ludlow Health Forum to allow further dialogue and ensure representatives of interested groups are kept up to speed on developments. We plan to have another meeting by early November once the Future Fit recommendations have been made by the Programme Board, in advance of formal public consultation.
This is a positive step for Ludlow. But I will continue to work with all our Community Hospitals in the Ludlow Constituency, including Bridgnorth and Bishop’s Castle, to deliver Urgent Care Centres. I believe with enough local support, particularly from GP practices, we can deliver more urgent services closer to people's homes through Urgent Care Centres and secure our community hospitals for the future.”