Who we are

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust’s aim is to be the best local provider of high quality, innovative health services near people's homes, working closely with partners so people receive well co-ordinated, effective care. Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust provides a range of community-based health services for adults and children in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and some services to people in surrounding areas. Our services range from district nursing and health visiting, to physiotherapy and specialist community clinics. You can view all our services by visiting our A-Z of services.

We want to work with local people and communities to develop innovative services that best meet people’s needs for care and treatment, and to help them stay healthy.

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust was formed on 1 July 2011 following the merger of the provider arms of Shropshire County Primary Care Trust and Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust.

Who we are and what we do

Over 90% of all the contacts that people have with the NHS are not in acute hospitals such as the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford. Many more NHS patients consult their GP or are visited in their own home by a district nurse or health visitor than go into an acute hospital for treatment. Given the central role that community health services play in delivering NHS care, it is vital that they are as patient-focused and efficient as possible.

In a time when there is large-scale change for the NHS nationally, we are creating stability and developing local services for local people as a new NHS organisation dedicated to community-based services. We want to strengthen and improve those services in the new NHS and at the same time ensure that we stay true to the traditional caring values of the NHS.

We know that we need to continually innovate in the way that we deliver our services and we will be working closely with staff, GPs, the local acute hospitals and social care to make sure we are adopting the best, most effective care for patients.

Good community health services prevent the need for some patients to be admitted to hospital, including those with chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, chest disease, arthritis, hypertension, osteoporosis and stroke. People have told us that we should help patients manage their own condition and stay healthy enough not to have to spend time in hospital, unless they really need to. This is especially important as we continue to care for an ageing population. A strong and viable local NHS Community Health Trust will, we believe, achieve this by ensuring easy access to responsive and continually improving services across the whole of Shropshire. When people do need to be admitted to hospital, the new Community Trust will work closely with local acute hospitals to make sure this happens efficiently.

How we fit into the NHS Structure

About Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust

From 1 July 2011, the community health provider arms of Shropshire County Primary Care Trust and Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust became a single Community NHS Trust.

How healthcare in Shropshire is managed

Healthcare in Shropshire is largely managed by four types of organisation:

Clinical Commissioning Groups

  • These are largely made up of local GPs; they decide what health services the local population needs.

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust

  • Community health services across the county are managed by our own Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust which provides services at the county’s community hospitals in Bridgnorth, Whitchurch, Ludlow and Bishops Castle, together with District Nursing, Health Visiting and a wide range of other services provided outside the main hospitals, in people’s homes and close to them.

The local major hospitals

  • The three major hospitals in Shropshire provide acute in-patient, out-patient and emergency services, and are managed by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) and the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

  • Mental health services are provided by the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

While NHS community services may not always be as visible to the public as the main hospitals, they play a vital role in supporting very many people who live with ongoing health problems, enabling them in many cases to continue to live at home. This is especially important in a large area such as ours, with increasing numbers of elderly people and others, including children and young people, with long term health conditions.

Dedicated Community Trust

As a Community Trust, we have a unique role as an essential ‘connector’ in the local health system, working directly alongside the many organisations that also provide care and support to people.

We are proud to be a Trust dedicated to providing services in local communities, working closely with GPs and the main hospitals, and with health staff experienced in community-working.

Organisational Structure

This information is available in serveral formats with different audiences in mind; please select one which is most relevant for your needs:

Information relating to organisations with which we work in partnership

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust works with a range of local and regional organisations in order to develop community health and other healthcare services. These organisations include:

  • Shropshire County PCT and Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group
  • NHS Telford and Wrekin and Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group
  • Shropshire Council
  • Telford and Wrekin Council
  • The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
  • South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt NHS Foundation Trust
  • Powys Local Health Board
  • Healthwatch Shropshire and Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin

The Trust is also committed to working with patients, public and other community and voluntary sector groups to make sure that the services it provides are relevant to local people and provided in the best possible way for local people.

Senior staff and management board members

To find out more information about senior staff and management board members, please see our Board page. Current and previous Board papers can also be found in this section.

Location and contact details for all public-facing departments

Contact details for all public-facing departments may be found on our Contact us page. Alternatively, each service will have appropriate contacts; a list of these services is provided on our A-Z of Services page.

This page was printed from Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust Web site at www.shropscommunityhealth.nhs.uk