Earlier this week, Mark Brassington, chief operating officer at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, was candid about the “significant pressures” hospitals face.
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He insisted that the departments were safe for patients, but admitted that performance levels were not where the trust wanted them to be.
But as ambulances queue at Lincoln County Hospital, no prospect of Grantham A&E being open 24/7 any time soon and poor waiting times, what is being done to stem the tide of demand?
ULHT chief operating officer Mark Brassington. Photo: Lincolnshire Reporter
The county’s emergency departments are not big enough to deal with the demand for patients, he said.
Grantham & District Hospital. Photo: United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
It’s something we can all imagine, arriving at A&E late at night, or any time of day, and being crammed into a unit along with patients of all kinds of injuries and illnesses.
“At the minute, we are providing care to patients in environments that we would not necessarily wish to because of the sheer volume of patients that we have in our departments,” said Mr Brassington.
But it’s going to come at a £20 million cost and will need to get the nod from the Department of Health and Social Care.
For now, expect the soar in demand at the county’s emergency units to go on for much longer.
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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.”