Temporary services introduced last year at Grantham Hospital, including an urgent treatment centre, will be reviewed at an extraordinary meeting next week.
But campaigners say they are disappointed and cautious after United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust gave the public less than five days to have their say online before the meeting takes place.
ULHT has asked members of the public to give their views on the restoration of services at the Grantham site, but the trust only announced the extraordinary meeting on Friday and gave noon tomorrow (Tuesday) as the deadline for responses. These will be included in a paper being prepared for the extraordinary board meeting of the trust on March 16.
The trust does say that responses following the deadline could still be considered by the board.
Ward councillor Ray Wootten says he is disappointed by the Tuesday deadline. He said: “I am disappointed that ULHT have called an extraordinary board meeting on March 16 and are asking residents their views on the future of Grantham Hospital and that only views given by midday, March 9, 2021 will count.
“What does the Trust think about our views if they only give a few days to get them in? The board meeting has been called for the same time and day as the meeting of the Lincolnshire Health Scrutiny Committee. There is a list of objectives and not enough time to get views in, now that is sneaky and undemocratic.”
On its website, the trust asks the public “What impact do you think the restoration of these services might have on you?” and to explain their answer, emailing their answer to Grantham.Restore@ulh.nhs.uk
A Green site was set up at Grantham last year so that planned operations could go ahead in a Covid-free hospital. At the same time Grantham A&E unit was replaced by the urgent treatment centre. ULHT said that the arrangements would be reviewed, but would stay in place until at least March 31, 2021.
The trust says that medical services that were taken away from the hospital last year could return ‘quickly’, but it may be longer for emergency services including a daytime A&E unit and an enhanced out of hours primary care service.
The trust says: “There are two challenges that need to be considered by the Board. The first challenge relates to the pandemic itself and the level of risk that still exists, even though numbers are reducing. The surgical facilities at Grantham have been very successful in providing essential care to thousands of patients over the last nine months without a single case of COVID-19 for patients and this must continue.
“The second challenge is ensuring safe staffing for the emergency care service. This relates particularly to the 24/7 medical cover for the inpatient services. The pandemic has stretched all medical services across the Trust, and prior to the changes in June 2020 there was a reliance on locum doctors to cover gaps in the rotas. Rebuilding these rotas will rely on additional support, bolstered by recruitment, in a difficult market with most other hospitals facing similar challenges.”
Campaigner Charmaine Morgan has welcomed the engagement with the public with caution, but says last week’s Judicial Review by the High Court of the changes made by ULHT last year has clearly had an effect.
Coun. Morgan said: “The latest engagement of staff over new plans indicate that ULHT have learned from the Judicial Review that they cannot plough through our hospital services with impunity. They must engage and consult before they act, even if there are extenuating circumstances. However, engaging and consulting are only of value if they are not just a ‘tick box exercise’. The final strategy should reflect our feedback if we are to have confidence in the process.
“The ‘temporary’ night closure of our A&E at night remains contentious and it is hugely concerning some patients could remain without local support eg. those most vulnerable or at risk requiring A&E at night, specialist phlebotomy (blood) tests and/or access to local medical beds.
“The Urgent Treatment Centre opened 24/7 when our A&E unit closed in June 2020. It is a valuable service but does not replace an A&E unit. Ideally both are needed to support our ever expanding community, especially those with Protected Characteristics. ULHT state they have difficulty recruiting staff. We warned this would be an outcome of their earlier decisions. It is a problem of their own making. It is not however insurmountable as a successful push for more staff in 2018 proved.
“An initial review of the latest plans also indicates a loss in medical beds and other supporting services. We are in danger of having a hospital which is unattractive to trainee staff with the foreseeable consequence that services will continue to degrade if those proposals go ahead.
“It is clear, when it comes to defending our hospital services, we must remain ever vigilant. A lack of detail makes some response difficult but we can and will comment on their strategic approach. A full response, based on the information available, will be provided shortly in preparation of public engagement.”
Article originally appeared on Grantham Journal
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