‘You have lied and lied and lied’: Lincolnshire mum confronts NHS boss over Glenfield heart unit closure plans
A Lincolnshire mum campaigning against the potential closure of the children’s heart unit at Glenfield Hospital has launched a furious attack on NHS bosses, accusing them of lying over and over again. Sam Norton, whose severely disabled son has received treatment at the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre in Leicester, said that the NHS was…
A Lincolnshire mum campaigning against the potential closure of the children’s heart unit at Glenfield Hospital has launched a furious attack on NHS bosses, accusing them of lying over and over again.
Sam Norton, whose severely disabled son has received treatment at the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre in Leicester, said that the NHS was making decisions that could kill her child and other children across the region.
Children with heart defects currently travel to Glenfield Hospital for treatment as there is nowhere in Lincolnshire for them to go.
Emotions were high as campaigners protested outside Lincolnshire County Council on March 15 prior to the Health Scrutiny meeting, which saw NHS bosses grilled by councillors about the public consultation process.
Councillors suggested that the consultation, which began on February 9, 2017, was “completely unfit for purpose” and “unfair”, taking place during purdah, meaning health committees across the East Midlands would be unable to comment.
Many of the consultations are also ticketed events – holding only 100 people per location – with only one event being held in Lincolnshire.
Chairman of the Health Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Christine Talbot, told NHS managers that the committee did not believe that the consultation was a ‘proper public consultation’.
She told Lincolnshire Reporter: “It is not a level playing field, different centres are going to be given different options and different timeframes and we don’t think that is fair either.
‘This will cost children’s lives’
A protest was held outside the council offices before the meeting began, with campaigners claiming that any closure would potentially cost children’s lives.
Maria Middleton, a committee member for the Heart Link charity, told Lincolnshire Reporter: “I’d like to say to NHS England that they need to reconsider their proposals.
“They are telling us that a decision has not yet been made and yet they recently started a separate consultations for patients and young people, who they are trying to encourage to take part in the consultation and in the documentation there, it states that they are going to be stopping heart surgery services at Glenfield so their messages are completely inconsistent.
“This will cost children’s lives.”
‘We want to hear as many views as possible’
Regional director of specialised commissioning at NHS England, Will Huxter and Dr Geraldine Linehan, regional director of specialised commissioning in Midlands and the East for NHS England attended the meeting.
Both NHS England directors declined the opportunity to speak to Lincolnshire Reporter on a one-to-one basis.
However, Will Huxter told the committee that there are approximately 500 patients with congenital heart conditions that may require surgery a year in the East Midlands.
Currently, Glenfield works with about 350 patients, and the reason for that he said was that patients were going elsewhere.
Professor Huon Gray, national clinical director for heart disease at NHS England, said: “We want to hear as many views as possible about how we propose to achieve excellent care for congenital heart disase patients during the ongoing consultation, and as part of that process these events are one of a number of opportunities for patients, families and the public to get more information about the plans and answers to any questions they may have.”
Spotted an error? Please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
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 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 32-year-old man and 30-year-old woman arrested in the murder probe of an 11-year-old boy in Lincoln have both been released on police bail, without any charges.
The man was arrested on suspicion of murder and the woman on suspicion of manslaughter after an incident at a house on Geneva Street on St Giles in Lincoln.
Police were called to the house at 10pm on Friday night, January 22.
The 11-year-old boy was found unwell at the scene and was taken to hospital for treatment.
He was pronounced dead a short time later.
At the time Lincolnshire Police said the death was unexplained and it was treated as murder.
The man and the woman arrested at the weekend were released on police bail on Monday evening.
Lincolnshire Police said in a statement on Monday night:
“Once again, we’d like to remind people that this is an active investigation and that an 11-year-old boy has sadly lost his life.
“Speculative comments are not only deeply upsetting to those involved but can potentially undermine our investigation.
“If you have any information that can help, call 101 or email [email protected] quoting incident 472 of January 22.”
Ten people from Boston have been given fines for breaching COVID-19 regulations by driving dangerously in supermarket car parks.
Officers were called after three separate reports of dangerous driving in the car parks of Lidl and Tesco in Wyberton Fen, as well as on Marsh Lane Industrial Estate in Boston.
All three incidents took place and were reported to police between 5pm and 6pm on Sunday, January 24, though it is unsure if they were connected at all.
When officers arrived, the drivers were seen doing donut manoeuvres and racing in the snow.
A total of 10 people were given £200 fines for breaking lockdown guidelines, but this will be reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days, due to all being first time offenders.
As well as the COVID-19 fines, two of the vehicles were also seized as a result of being uninsured, with drivers reported.
A traffic offence report was also submitted after one driver was seen to be driving not just dangerously but out of control.
Inspector Fran Harrod of Lincolnshire Police said: “We would like to thank the public for bringing these incidents of dangerous driving to our attention.
“This is not only extremely dangerous to those taking part but to others in these areas.
“While we continue to engage and explain with the public, this was a blatant breach of the restrictions which will not be tolerated.”