The Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to discuss urgent and emergency care performance, including data on emergency department attendances, four-hour performance, and twelve-hour performance. The committee was also set to receive updates on community services and the performance of Health Hero, an out-of-hours GP provider.

Urgent and Emergency Care Performance

The committee was scheduled to receive a presentation on urgent and emergency care performance, with representatives from the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, West Midlands Ambulance Service, and Health Hero in attendance. The report pack indicated that discussions would cover current performance, improvement activities, whole-system flow, delivery timescales, and the role of wider services in supporting emergency care.

Data presented in the report pack highlighted a sharp increase in Emergency Department (ED) attendances in July 2026, which then reduced to more typical levels before rising again from the week of 24 August. SaTH's four-hour performance in August was reported at 52%, against a plan of 60.1%. Recovery actions included support from Nexus Consultancy, tests of change in EDs, and identified opportunities for improvement in radiology request to report times and blood test result turnaround.

Regarding twelve-hour performance, 78.0% of patients were seen, discharged, or transferred within twelve hours in August, against a plan of 85.6%. The report pack attributed summer challenges to a decrease in simple discharges, an increase in long-stay inpatients, and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) ED reconfiguration. Recovery actions included reducing the number of patients with no criteria to reside and a peer review process to reduce length of stay for specific patient groups.

Ambulance handover performance showed a weekly average of 68.6 minutes in August 2026, with improvements noted in the week of 7 September. The number of acute inpatients with no criteria to reside remained stable but above the mean. The report pack identified the non-admitted majors pathway as a key area for improvement, with a recommendation to prioritise faster assessment, earlier blood tests, and earlier CT requests. A proposed programme for delivering these improvements involved testing and scaling a standard front-door model across RSH and Princess Royal Hospital (PRH).

The report pack also detailed the role of community services in protecting emergency flow, noting increases in referrals to Urgent Community Response (UCR) and supported discharges. Winter planning for 2026/27 was also outlined, with actions planned across various services including front door, UCR, virtual wards, step-up/step-down care, and neighbourhood teams.

Health Hero Performance

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on Health Hero, the out-of-hours GP provider. The report pack indicated that the Integrated Care Board (ICB) monitors Health Hero's Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) through a standard commissioner-provider assurance process, with formal reviews by the Urgent & Emergency Care Delivery Group. The report noted a step change in demand in the first month of Health Hero assuming the contract from 1 October 2025, but stated that this was stabilised, and activity levels had consistently been higher than before. The report also suggested that fewer cases were being given an outcome to attend Emergency Departments, with more patients finding alternatives.

Co-Chairs Update

A verbal update from the Co-Chairs was scheduled. In a previous meeting on 18 May 2026, the committee had received an update on HealthHero's performance, noting strong response metrics and positive user feedback. At that time, it was proposed that ongoing assurance be maintained through referral to the respective Health and Wellbeing Boards.