Residents in Telford and across the wider region will see a change in how local health services are managed following the formal launch of the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Community and Hospitals NHS Group on 1 April 2026. This new partnership brings together the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and the Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust under a single unified leadership structure.
The new group aims to provide the local health service with a shared purpose and a single voice. While both organisations will continue to operate as separate statutory bodies, they will now share executives and non-executive directors. Jo Williams, who previously served as the chief executive of The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Birmingham, has been appointed as the group chief executive. Andrew Morgan, who has been in the role since October 2024, will continue as the group chair.
For patients, the primary goal of this change is to improve the coordination of care between hospitals and community-based services. The group plans to focus on shifting care closer to home through initiatives such as virtual care and hospital-at-home services. Other key priorities include reducing waiting times, improving urgent and emergency care, and addressing health inequalities across the region.
This structural change follows a period of significant transition for the local hospital trust. The Care Quality Commission placed the hospital trust in special measures in November 2018 following concerns about the quality of care. This included a major investigation led by Donna Ockenden into maternity services, which identified repeated failures over two decades. The hospital trust exited these special measures in March 2026.
The move to a group model follows a national trend within the health service. According to analysis by the Health Foundation, nearly a quarter of all health trusts in England have now adopted or committed to this style of collaborative leadership. Officials believe this approach will help deliver better value and a more consistent experience for those using the health service in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.
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