United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust could lose between 30-40% of its operations capacity every time there is a COVID-19 case — unless Grantham is kept as a coronavirus-free site, bosses have been warned.
The trust board voted on Tuesday to continue the arrangement and to increase capacity at Grantham & District for procedures including endoscopy and chemotherapy.
It comes after members of the Royal College of Surgeons of England warned of a “tsunami” of cancelled operations this winter as the NHS copes with rising numbers of coronavirus patients.
They doubt the NHS nationally could meet targets to restore surgery back to near pre-pandemic levels.
Responding to a question on the situation by trust chief executive Andrew Morgan, chief operating officer Simon Evans said ULHT was now carrying out operations at the highest level on record.
“If we reverted back, the question would be how could we operate green pathways and offer maximum protection.
“We would have to take a significant increase in the level of risk to patients being operated on because of the mixed environments.
“If we had one patient contracting COVID we would have to stop operating in that particular sector until we could go through a deep clean.
“If that were to happen, we might lose between 30-40% capacity every time we went through that particular process.”
Mr Evans also confirmed the trust had “started to see an increase in cancellations”.
He said some of this was because “we have seen some patients not completely adhering to isolation and social distancing guidance,” but also that testing capacity had been limited or not worked.
However, he said: “The number of cancellations compared to last year is a great improvement and going forward believe the Grantham model will offer a great deal of protection.”
Grantham’s green site, introduced in April, sees the hospital operate as a COVID-free facility in all departments except the Urgent Treatment Centre.
Bosses reported that since it began, no coronavirus-infected patients had been treated in the green area.
Data showed that that around 88 surgical cases were being undertaken each week at Grantham.
2,500 outpatients were seen between August 17 and September 14 including 726 first appointments.
67% of Grantham patients in July were transferred to Lincoln or Pilgrim hospitals, going down to 63% in August.
The strict guidelines at Grantham to keep the site COVID-free also brought on some unfortunate incidents.
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Works to replace worn out carriageway on A17 Washway Road, as well as sections of other nearby local roads, will start in late July.
The start date for the project is Monday 25 July, with the scheme expected to last for up to six weeks (subject to weather).
As part of the works, overnight closures will be in place in the following areas from 6pm to 6am, weekday evenings only:
A17 Washway Road (between a point 160 metres north Middle Marsh Road junction and a point 260 metres south of the B1357 Common Road junction)
Middle Marsh Road (at A17 junction)*
Red Cow Drove (at A17 junction)*
B1357 Common Road (between A17 junction & a point 60 metres south)
*Please note that Middle Marsh Road and Red Cow Drive will not be closed at the same time.
Cllr Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “This section of the A17 near Moulton is nearing the end of its serviceable life, so we’ve taken the decision to rebuild the worst areas.
“This will involve removing the current carriageway and replacing it with 6,000 tonnes of tarmac and stone.
“This six-week scheme will no doubt cause some disruption, but we’ll be working to minimise the impact by only carrying the works out overnight and maintaining access for residents and the emergency services throughout the project.”
Works to replace worn out carriageway on the A151 Dozens Bank in West Pinchbeck will start in late July.
The start date for the project is Monday 25 July, with the scheme expected to last for up to three weeks (subject to weather).
As part of the project, a full 24/7 closure of Dozens Bank will be in place from Crown Hall Farm to Lake Ross Caravan Park.
The diversion route for the closure will be via A151 to Bourne / A15 to Market Deeping roundabout / A1175 to A1175-A16 Applegreen roundabout / A16 to A16-A151 roundabout / A151 to West Pinchbeck, and vice versa. A local diversion will also be in place for Clay Drove.
Cllr Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “Although we had to postpone this important project last year, I’m really glad to say works to improve Dozens Bank are now planned to start next month.
“This will involve removing the current carriageway and replacing it with 1,600 tonnes of tarmac and stone.
“When finished, these improvements will make travelling the A151 much safer and more comfortable for all road users.”
The county council carried out temporary repairs to Dozens Bank in October 2022 to resume two-way movement and it easier for people to get around.