March 11, 2022 6.00 am This story is over 24 months old

New £25m emergency care units for Grimsby and Scunthorpe hospitals

The latest stage in ambitious plans for NLaG
Scunthorpe General Hospital. | Photo: NLaG
By Local Democracy Reporter

Hospitals in Grimsby and Scunthorpe will be given new £24.86 million acute assessment units as part of a transformation of emergency care in Greater Lincolnshire.

The units will be housed in what are now emergency departments for Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust’s sites in Grimsby and Scunthorpe.

They will also host provision for same day emergency care and are a key element in the trust’s ongoing investment plans to improve care at its hospitals and decrease waiting times for patients.

The next phase of central government funding is set to be released following approval from the department of health, and divisional medical director of medicine, Dr Anwar Quereshi is looking forward to the changes “setting an example for the region”.

Dr Quereshi was instrumental in designing the new units and facilities, as well as defining clinical pathways which determined how the families would provide the best possible care.

Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. | Photo: NLaG

He said: “We have already made significant progress on constructing the new Emergency Departments, which will be used to provide care to you if you are seriously injured or ill.

“These facilities will also be hosting our urgent care services- where you will be managed by our skilled practitioners for an urgent but non-life threatening injury or illness.

“Having this final phase of funding approved will allow us to complement these units with our Acute Assessment units and short stay wards, all on one floor.

“These AAUs will be staffed by expert clinicians trained in a wide variety of skills. This will allow us to see and diagnose you more quickly and get you on the right course of treatment, without necessarily having to admit you to a ward in the first instance.

“As a result, it’s less likely that clinically stable patients will need to be admitted and, if you are, you will probably spend less time in hospital.”

Mike Simpson, programme director and associate director of strategic development, added: “These plans have been almost three years in the making and I am delighted that they have now been given the final seal of approval.

“These new units will make a huge difference to the communities of Northern Lincolnshire and our staff. Construction will begin once our new emergency departments have been completed and the teams move out of the current ED space.

“It was hugely important to me that frontline clinical staff were involved in the development of our plans from the very start of the process, to ensure that what we build provides them with the right set of facilities and equipment they need to meet the increasing demand they face and give you excellent standards of care.

“Clinical staff will continue to be involved throughout the construction of the facilities, advising on everything from the layout detail whilst they are being built, to the décor, equipment and fixtures – ensuring every choice is made with your needs in mind.”