August 11, 2016 1.05 pm
This story is over 60 months old
Understaffed Grantham A&E to be closed for over 14 hours a day
The accident and emergency department at Grantham Hospital will be closed from 6.30pm until 9am from next week, for at least three months. United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has said that the temporary reduction in opening hours at Grantham will commence from Wednesday, August 17 and will help increase the number of doctors at its…
The accident and emergency department at Grantham Hospital will be closed from 6.30pm until 9am from next week, for at least three months.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has said that the temporary reduction in opening hours at Grantham will commence from Wednesday, August 17 and will help increase the number of doctors at its A&E departments in Lincoln and Boston.
As previously reported, the trust said that it does not have enough doctors to fill shifts in three departments 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and may put patients at risk if it does not act now.
At present, the trust is also unable to recruit locums, so consultant doctors have filled the gaps by doing extra shifts.
After 6.30pm, the trust says it has put services in place with the ambulance service, the out of hours service and emergency assessment unit to maximise the number of patients who can still be treated at Grantham Hospital.
However, patients will not be able to walk in to the out of hours service without an appointment accessed via NHS 111.
In a real emergency, people should call 999.
ULHT has said that it was received the backing of all other local NHS trusts in making the decision.
Dr Suneil Kapadia, medical director at ULHT, admitted that this decision would not be a popular one with members of the public, but insisted it was necessary for patient safety.
He said: “Our doctors have agreed to support our plans in the best interests of patients and work shifts in Lincoln and Pilgrim A&Es.
“This hasn’t been easy on the staff at Grantham and we are very grateful for their help.
“We haven’t made this decision lightly, but we’ve made it for the right reasons – to maintain patient safety in all three A&Es.
“We know this will be an unpopular decision but reducing the opening hours of Grantham A&E is the safest option for Lincolnshire. Despite significant actions taken by the trust, we don’t have enough doctors to safely staff all three of our A&Es 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We will be working hard to recruit more doctors over the next few weeks and months, and continue to pay premium rates to attract doctors to the county. ULHT are committed to fully reopening A&E as soon as we have enough doctors. But we won’t compromise on safety to deliver convenient services
“Currently patients with life threatening conditions and children are sent by ambulance to Lincoln, Pilgrim or Nottingham University Hospitals.
“On average we expect, between 6:30pm and 9am, 25 patients to attend alternative services. Most of these will be discharged back to their GP with little or no treatment required. We also expect that three patients will need to be transferred to alternative A&Es by ambulance.”
Dr Vindi Bhandal, GP and Chair of South West Lincolnshire CCG, added: “Once the department is closed, and to reassure our patients, the out of hours service will take over and provide a service for emergency care.
“Clearly we all recognise that there are times when attending A&E is the right course of action, however we need to educate our patients not to think of A&E first but rather to make use of the wide range of alternatives that are available including GP practices during working hours, minor injuries units, urgent care centres, pharmacies and the NHS 111 service.”
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The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Flying Scotsman toured Lincolnshire as it travelled from London on Saturday through Sleaford, Spalding, Boston, Wainfleet and Skegness (and back later in the evening).
The steam train, built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), is among the most recognisable rail vehicles in history, covering more than two million miles when it was in service.
Mark Suffield captured these great photos of The Flying Scotsman at Sleaford Station on September 25.
People in Lincolnshire returned to queueing at petrol stations on Saturday morning after some motorists are panic buying fuel due to fears of shortages.
Fuel stations in Lincoln, Grantham and across the county are experiencing gridlock queues, prompting Lincolnshire Police to appeal to motorists to stop panic buying, as there is no fuel shortage overall — though some local garages are experiencing low supplies.
“If you impede emergency services and cause unnecessary delays, you are putting lives at risk,” was the message from Lincolnshire Police.
The Shell garage on Manthorpe Rd in Grantham was closed on Saturday morning. | Photo: RSM Photography
The force said in a statement on Saturday morning: “This is a potential hazard for vehicles making other journeys, and may cause difficulties for emergency services trying to reach people in need.
“While we appreciate that some people may be particularly keen to fill up their vehicles this weekend, we would respectfully ask motorists to be sensible when making judgements about joining a queue at a petrol station.
“If it is too long, consider returning at a different time.”
Queues at BP Bridge End Road in Grantham on Saturday. | BP Bridge End Road
Emergency service workers are struggling to get fuel
One Lincolnshire emergency worker wrote to The Lincolnite to tell their experience after a hard day’s work, trying to refuel:
“I am currently on fumes and was unable to refuel [Friday], mainly because after a 13/14 hour shifts often with no break (due to NHS pressures from people abusing the system), working on the ambulances, I barely have the energy to drive home never mind sit in a queue for 30 mins plus for people to refuel unnecessarily (AND THIS INCLUDES WITNESSING PEOPLE FILL UP FUEL CANS – one person filling up their car AND THREE fuel cans).
“My days off are precious to me currently, like a lot of us, so I am going to have to risk getting fuel in the morning of my next shift, when no doubt there will be none available. It’s not just me who’s suffering, what’s next, staff being unable to get to work due to this? People not getting the medical help they need in time? Hospital staff not able to get to work? Police and fire unable to respond to emergencies?
“Come on guys sort, yourselves out and just think about people other than yourself, you should be ashamed!”
“This is the first lockdown all over again where essential workers, emergency service, hospital and care home staff are struggling to get BASIC essentials.
“Why do we bother risking our health and lives for others (we are still in a pandemic) when people cannot even behave normally and not act selfishly — if people bought items as normal there would be no ‘crisis’ as it’s being incorrectly worded, there is enough stock out there on the shelves and in the pumps if people behaved.”
Lincoln City have signed Scottish under-21 goalkeeper Archie Mair on loan from Premier League side Norwich City.
The 20-year-old keeper had agreed a deal to come to the Imps before the summer transfer deadline, but an announcement was delayed due to an injury he picked up beforehand.
He is now recovering from that injury and will join up with his new teammates, with a view to Archie being available for games as of October 9, when Lincoln face Wigan Athletic in League One.
Mair is very highly rated at Norwich City, having signed a new long-term contract with the Canaries in the summer and spending last season out on loan with King’s Lynn Town in the National League.
The move also paves the way for Imps youngster Sam Long to be sent out on loan and gain some valuable first team experience, though his destination is as yet unknown.
The 20-year-old will provide competition for Josh Griffiths and allow for youngster Sam Long to go out on loan. | Photo: Norwich City Football Club / Lincoln City Football Club
Lincoln City Director of Football Jez George said: “This is a move which suits all parties as, following his loan in the National League, Archie has the opportunity to experience a first team environment in League One, he provides
us with cover for Josh Griffiths and allows Sam Long to go out and play games on loan.
“We were discussing a loan for Archie with Norwich prior to his injury so we are pleased that we have managed to still find a way to have made it happen.
“We held off on announcing this deal because we wanted to be fair to Archie and with our injury list, signing a player with an injury may have looked like we had taken leave of our senses!
“However, there is good logic to the arrangement and Archie is an excellent solution to what we need in supporting Josh Griffiths and Sam Long.
“We are very grateful to Norwich for their help throughout the process and for them facilitating the loan.”
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