Grantham Town Council to hand back defibrillator, based in George Shopping Centre and gifted by Rotary Club of Grantham Kesteven as councillors do not want responsibility for maintenance

Councillors have decided to hand back a defibrillator that was gifted to them five months ago as they do not want the responsibility of maintaining it.

Grantham town councillors unanimously agreed on Wednesday (March 5) that they would be handing back a defibrillator, which is based at the George Shopping Centre, back to the Rotary Club of Grantham Kesteven. The club donated the defibrillator in October.

The decision was made in a previous finance committee meeting on February 11.

Councillor Paul Stokes (Ind), chairman of the finance committee, claimed that the defibrillator was faulty and questioned whether councillors would want to be responsible for its maintenance.

He said: “I don’t think for one minute the Rotary Club handed it to us knowing there were substantial amounts to be done on it.

“However, in the time since they handed it to us, the rewiring was disconnected from the shop because the shop and the George Centre had changed hands.

“There is another defibrillator at the Conduit [in Market Place], which is only a short distance away.

“My personal recommendation, and I think the finance committee agree, is we say to the Rotary Club ‘sorry we are not having it and we’re handing it back to you’.

“Take it out of use and we’ll put a sign up that says go to the Conduit, literally 50 metres away.”

Coun Stokes also told councillors it would cost more to fix the current defibrillator, compared to getting a new one.

He added: “Town councillors need to make the decision, do they want to be responsible for defibrillators?”

Councillor Steve Billinghurst (Lab) questioned whether the council could explore other ways of funding the maintenance costs.

Councillor Declan Gibbons (Ind) told councillors how he used to work at Moy Park, based in Gonerby Road, where the business provided grant funding for this type of equipment.

He was unsure whether the business did it now, but told councillors he was happy to enquire about possible funding with his previous employer.

Councillor Steve Cunnington (Ind) also suggested seeking funding from South Kesteven District Council for a new defibrillator.

Councillor Tracey Forman (Ind) said she supported the finance committee's decision, questioning whether the council did want the responsibility of maintaining the defibrillator

She said: “We don’t want to take on a faulty defibrillator at this moment in time.

“We don’t want to discuss getting other defibrillators because clearly there are financial implications that we have not planned in our budget for the year ahead.

“We’ve already provided good evidence that there are quite a lot.

“That’s probably not a job we want.”

The Rotary Club of Grantham Kesteven told LincsOnline that the defibrillator was not fault when it was handed to the town council.

Rotarian Mike Cook said: “Some of the faults the town council have picked out are not true.

“There is nothing wrong with it. Some members of the council went to inspect it and left it in a sorry state.

“They did not put it back properly. The security tag that was left by us was missing.

“They claim there were no pads or spare pads as well.”

Mike said the club was “surprised” at the council’s decision, as Mike claims the council has “not been in direct contact with the club” about faults.

A person who is in cardiac arrest has a reduced rate of survival of 10% with every minute that passes without assistance — the British Heart Foundation says the use of a defibrillator is crucial in improving the odds for a victim in need.