June 15, 2022 2.29 pm This story is over 21 months old

Louth UTC forced to close overnight due to staff sickness

MP Victoria Atkins concerned about the closure
Louth Hospital has a UTC, but residents want more services

Louth UTC has been forced to close overnight recently due to staff shortages caused by sickness.

Patients have been forced to travel to services Lincoln or Grimsby as a result.

The medical centre has confirmed that it should be opening overnight as normal in the future.

Louth and Horncastle MP Victoria Atkins has expressed worry about the closures.

She wrote on Facebook on Monday evening: “I have been very concerned to hear reports of Louth Hospital’s Urgent Treatment Centre being closed overnight in recent days.

“I have followed this up with the local NHS and have asked for a meeting to discuss this urgently. I hope to provide an update on this soon.”

The Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that recent disruption was due to illness.

Louth MP has asked questions about the recent closures | Photo: Daniel Jaines

Local residents has responded to their MP by saying that the town needs a more comprehensive service than the UTC.

One woman said: “We need a proper hospital at Louth with a 24hr A&E. There are loads of houses being built all over this area. What happened to ‘levelling up’ as promised?”

Another said: “Having the next Community Diagnostic Centre in Louth (with hubs in Mablethorpe and Skegness) would be an excellent option for East Lindsey as opposed to this being based in Boston or Lincoln where there are already the centralised services that we find hard enough to access due to transport issues and poor infrastructure.”

“Having recently had dealings with urgent care at Louth, who I might add I couldn’t fault, the problem would seem to be that of staffing,” a resident said.

“I really feel for that one shift who are trying to manage as best they can under extremely poor circumstances.”