Urgent treatment centre at Grantham Hospital is likely to offer advanced services
The transition of Grantham Hospital’s A&E department into an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) has garnered mixed reactions from campaigners and councillors.
The Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group first unveiled plans for this overhaul of health services last May, with the changes anticipated to be fully implemented by this coming October.
It follows the sudden and controversial closure of Grantham’s A&E department in August 2016 and a hard-fought battle by campaigners to get services restored. United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) made the decision to close Grantham’s A&E after claiming there were not enough doctors to maintain all three A&Es across the county.
Summing up the fight, campaigners and councillors Ray and Linda Wootten said: “It's been a hard, long, seven-year campaign. We are extremely disappointed that despite public opinion, petitions to Number 10 Downing Street and several rallies, the public voice has been ignored.”
Currently, Grantham Hospital’s A&E department is only open between the hours of 8am and 6.30pm, with an enhanced out-of-hours walk-in service offering reduced services until 10pm. After 6.30pm, patients in need of further care are transferred to either Boston Pilgrim Hospital or Lincoln County Hospital.
A collaborative approach
In a move that sets Grantham’s UTC apart, Lincolnshire County Councillor Carl Macey (Con), chairman of the county’s Health Scrutiny Committee, revealed that the centre is being managed collaboratively with ULHT and Lincolnshire Community Health Services.
This partnership aims to ensure the availability of higher-tier medical professionals, offering more advanced services.
Coun Macey reflected on the current state of Grantham’s A&E, saying: “We heard from independent reviewers that for a long time now, Grantham Hospital hasn’t offered an A&E department up to the national mandate.”
He lamented the “erosion” of Grantham’s A&E over the years but expressed hope for the future, reassuring that the new UTC will retain most of, if not all, its earlier services.
The chairman further elaborated on the evolving healthcare landscape in Lincolnshire.
“We’re not going to have a service like we had many years ago,” he remarked, hinting at imminent changes to nearby hospitals.
Current projections suggest a future where Lincolnshire houses only two A&E departments, located in Boston and Lincoln. However, to bridge the gap, there are plans to bolster GP surgeries, in a bid to provide high quality local care.
What will be provided in Grantham?
The proposals mean that the Grantham’s UTC would provide the following services:
Orthopaedics – Consolidate planned orthopaedic surgery at Grantham Hospital to establish a ‘centre of excellence’ in Lincolnshire, and establish a dedicated day-case centre at County Hospital Louth for planned orthopaedic surgery;
Urgent treatment and emergency care – Grantham Hospital A&E department to become a 24/7 urgent treatment centre (UTC);
Acute medicine – Develop integrated community/acute medical beds at Grantham Hospital, in place of the current acute medical beds;
No stroke services – Hyper-acute and acute stroke services will be consolidated at Lincoln County Hospital, supported by an enhanced community stroke rehabilitation service.
ULHT claims that the transition would impact “only 2 patients daily,” or over 700 critically ill patients annually.
It’s hoped that these changes will reduce overall waiting times for patients, an issue that campaigners say has reached a critical juncture in recent weeks.
How long is the wait?
Recent NHS data reveals that in June of this year, 55 per cent of patients at hospitals under United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) waited more than four hours to be seen.
At the time of writing, the NHS WaitLess app reported the longest wait at Grantham Hospital to be three hours.
Jody Clark, founder of the Fighting 4 Grantham Hospital campaign group, pointed out that the hospital faces a chronic staffing issue, which only gets exacerbated during the summer holidays, when many staff members take leave to holiday with their families.
She said: “They have the same struggles every summer holiday, where we have an influx of people come to Lincolnshire and we don’t have enough staff to cover.”
Ms Clark further highlighted recruitment challenges faced by many hospitals in the area, adding: “It’s difficult to recruit staff here, it’s a large rural county and so I don’t think many people end up wanting to stay here when they’ve got Nottingham and Peterborough on their doorsteps.”
Reduced services
Grantham St Vincents’ Councillor Charmaine Morgan (Ind), also founder of the campaign group SOS Grantham Hospital, observed that while Grantham Hospital’s A&E is well-outfitted, it’s underutilised.
She fears the transition to a UTC might curtail services, necessitating more patient transfers.
She said: “Grantham Hospital has dealt with, and still does to an extent deal with, the majority of critical cases. There’s only some areas they don’t do, such as major trauma.
“Nobody has ever said we don’t want 24-hour services. What we don’t accept is the downgrade of care you get once you get through those doors.”
She later emphasised that the envisaged proposals for more of a UTC+, offering beyond the typical services. She believes this highlights the need for a proper A&E department in Grantham.
Ms Clark, while recognising potential service reductions, remains optimistic, stating that the new centre would be “better than what we’ve got now”.
Councillors Ray and Linda Wootten have been heavily involved in the campaign to retain health services in Grantham.
They said: “Campaign groups, activists and some dedicated councillors have devoted a lot of personal time and energy in attending meetings to save Grantham Hospital, speaking up for residents.
“It's been nearly seven years of uncertainty going through the Sustainability and Transformation Plan , Healthy Conversations and the Acute Services Review. The conclusion was ULHT couldn't support or maintain three A&E departments due to staff shortages and financial restraints, and the clinicians had the last say, regardless of public opinion.
“An Equality Impact Assessment recognised that Grantham and the wider district could be impacted by this decision for a UTC, particularly the economically disadvantaged, elderly and disabled who need to travel for an A&E service elsewhere.
“The one thing campaigners did secure is that whatever service we were given it must be 24/7 and there is a commitment that the UTC will be open 24/7 for walk-in access, as well as 111 overnight appointments. UTC s are usually only open for 12 hours.
“The next stage of the transition will be an announcement of the changeover date which will be in the autumn, we also expect information of what services will be available for this new beginning.
“Grantham Hospital is safe and the two new theatres for planned care are being recognised as a centre of excellence.”
What does an urgent treatment centre typically deal with?
Sprains and strains
Suspected broken limbs
Bites and stings
Eye problems
Feverish illness in adults and children
Minor scalds and burns
Emergency contraception
