THE departing head of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Simon Wright, must have had his tongue in his cheek in declaring: “I have loved my time at SaTH”.

After a testing four years, heading up the deeply troubled Trust, he could be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire with a possibly equally challenging job with the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership. This is where NHS and local councils club together in 44 areas covering all of England to develop proposals to improve health and care!

Interestingly, he leaves at a time when the Department of Health confirms its Health Secretary is now in a position to decide whether Future Fit is to be officially reviewed!

So surely it’s a bit disingenuous, after the constantly under-fire leader, whose Trust was put under special measures in November, to say he’s ‘loved’ his time there!

Hate to say we told you

In the same vein, after its fourth serious warning, Reflections stressed the simple answer had to be ‘more staff’ to restore health services in Shropshire.

As Simon Wright departs, the local Trust is biting the bullet and almost doubling the number of full-time A&E nurses at both Telford and Shrewsbury.

Recruiting could see numbers rise from 78 to 149 by 2021/22, if approved, with the plan focusing on more senior level nurses.

The action is being recommended to “address significant problems in the trust’s emergency departments” which saw the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission health watchdog, described as ‘inadequate’ after its November inspection.

Please make a choice!

A CENTURIES old row over the spelling of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain has flared up again.

It lost the ‘t’ in its name back in 2008 after Powys County Council argued it was being spelled incorrectly, before the ‘t’ was reinstated in 2014 in a council U-turn.

The village is named after the church to the Celtic Saint Brigit. But it appears an error in the 1800s identified the saint as a man - which meant the letter ‘t’ was introduced. But Brigit was a woman, with no ‘t’ needed!

A final decision on the recommendations will be taken soon by Welsh ministers, so it could end up with both an English and a Welsh spelling!

Bit of a gamble I think

FINALLY, here’s a surprise - as High Streets continue to take a blow - the value of Shrewsbury’s Darwin Centre which Shropshire Council’s bought for £51m last year as an ‘investment’ - has fallen by a whacky £11m.

Council chief Peter Nutting says: “The outlook in the short-term suggests that income will fall before it rises, but we were prepared for that and we knew it would still be making us money and helping to pay for essential public services across the county.”