“To hear that the CCG are now increasing the size of Boston Pilgrim A&E when one of their key arguments is that they do not have the resources to retain an A&E at Grantham is a slap in the face to Grantham residents.”
That’s the view of Grantham Hospital campaigner Coun Charmaine Morgan on hearing the news that United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust has submitted plans for the Accident & Emergency department at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, to double in size.
They have asked Boston Borough Council for permission to complete the new facilities, which will see the cardio-respiratory, dental and support services building demolished and the existing emergency department expanded into a new two-storey extension.
Documents said the plans will create a more welcoming approach to the hospital and help tackle the NHS Long Term Plan’s key improvements for emergency care, including comprehensive clinical screening, reducing the length of stay needed and increasing staff numbers.
The application says: “By expanding and reforming urgent and emergency care services, the practical goal is to ensure patients get the care they need fast, relieve pressure on A&E departments, and better offset winter demand spikes.
“The scheme addresses all these critical points and provides a key opportunity to address emergency care provision for the next 30 years.”
The plans were originally announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2019 when the hospital was given £21.3 million government funding.
Chair SOS Grantham Hospital Cllr Morgan said: “Whilst we are pleased to hear that communities to the east of our county will be receiving improved services at Boston Pilgrim Hospital the new plans raise a number of important issues and questions.
“At present Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group is undertaking an Acute Service Review in Lincolnshire due to end 23 December. Their plans include the permanent downgrade of Grantham & District Hospital A&E unit to a 24/7 Urgent Treatment Centre; the loss of Acute Care Unit beds; permanent removal of consultants; moving chronically ill elderly patients from Grantham to other hospitals or Care in the Community where they will no longer have access to the supervision and support of specialists in cardio, respiratory and gastro conditions and the loss of emergency fracture care. The CCG argue that it is safer to move our patients elsewhere because they cannot fully staff an A&E at Grantham.
“The CCG and United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust closed Grantham Hospital completely in June 2020 and argued at the time it was a ‘temporary measure’ required to cope with Covid 19 pressures, yet, despite a Judicial Review in March this year finding their actions illegal, and, in particular highlighting the failure to properly consult with our community, they failed to fully restore all services and failed to retain the vital consultants, equipment and their teams at Grantham.
“Instead they have subsequently reduced the number of Acute and Medical beds at Grantham and diverted our consultants elsewhere, forcing them to commute cross county to Lincoln and Boston, regardless of the personal impact it may have on them and their teams. This is not sustainable.
“To hear that the CCG are now increasing the size of Boston Pilgrim A&E when one of their key arguments is that they do not have the resources to retain an A&E at Grantham is a slap in the face to Grantham residents.
“We can be forgiven for feeling their decision is already made and their Public Consultation feels like a ‘tick box’ exercise. This is made worse by the poor quality, omissions and inaccuracies in their Consultation document.
“We must ask if the new development will deliver much needed additional A&E and follow up Acute Care capacity, or is it a glossy front window on an ever reducing service just as Grantham communities have experienced since the ULHT refurbished Grantham & District Hospital A&E reception area?
“Online research indicates that ULHT are advertising for locum A&E Consultants with contracts that are short term and up to a year at Boston. What happens beyond then? We must also ask why the CCG and Government are investing so much on a hospital located in a flood zone? Boston Pilgrim Hospital is deemed ‘at risk’ of flooding in extreme weather on the eastern coast by the Environment Agency.
“Even if the hospital services are protected, as occurred in December 2019 when Fire and Rescue Services, including those from Grantham, were called to assist, the ability of patients to reach the hospital safely in flood and winter conditions is severely reduced. Our weather is due to become more extreme more frequently.”
“The CCG argue that it is acceptable to go ahead with the expansion at Boston Pilgrim A&E before they have completed the ASR Public Consultation, due to end 23 December 2021, because the Government announced the investment in 2019. The Government would only have considered such a significant investment with the support, and even at the request of the CCG and likely involvement of United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust.
“It is clear to us that the CCG and ULHT strategy is, and has been for some time, to take resources from Grantham to support the rest of the County which has been struggling to recruit and reach performance targets for years. They have little or no real regard for the impact this will have on at least 700 at risk patients per year from our area, who, by their own statistics, will be forced to travel when critically ill to other sites if their ASR plans go ahead.
“The CCG also state that we will benefit from improvements at Boston. This would be true were the growth of Boston not at the cost of vital local Grantham acute services, and, if Boston were not so far away from Grantham and surrounding area that in an emergency our residents will be at increased risk getting there.
“Even non-emergency patients from Grantham struggle to reach the Boston Pilgrim site. The distance between Grantham and Boston Pilgrim is at least 33 miles, from Harlaxton to Boston is 37m and from Long Bennington 44 miles. By public transport, if it is running, people face at least a 2hr 40 minute journey where they can access it.
“I met an elderly resident recently required to make her own way across County to Boston for eye treatment. She has to rely on a friend for a lift for repeated visits. A service once provided locally in Grantham.
“The same issues apply for all other alternative sites including Lincoln, Nottingham, Leicester and Peterborough.
“Furthermore, having travelled such a distance it is highly likely that we face a long wait at the other end, and possible diversion to yet another hospital, as some residents are reporting. For example some patients from Grantham taken by ambulance to Lincoln found themselves bounced back to Nottingham QMC. The CQC reports for Boston and Lincoln also highlight major concerns regarding the quality of care.
“A recent caller advised me of a patient choosing to go to Derby rather than rely on Lincoln or Boston Hospital which has become renowned for its delays in treating emergency patients. The strategic plans of the CCG and ULHT are not only having an impact on patients but are also affecting East Midlands Ambulance crews forced to wait hours outside, in some cases fighting to keep patients stable until they are admitted. Winter will only make the situation worse.
“SOS Grantham Hospital, along with Is Anyone Listening Lincolnshire and Fighting for Lincolnshire Lives are currently undertaking our own questionnaire and petition exercise in response to the poor quality ASR Consultation taking place.
“We have worked with Village Links and Grantham News magazines to deliver our petition forms to over 30,000 local households early December. It is also possible for residents to complete our online petition via www.sosgranthamhospital.org.uk. Or download a printable from the site. We are hugely grateful to all who have completed the forms to date. Whatever the CCG plans are we need to make it clear to them that the people reliant on Grantham & District Hospital do not support plans that leave our communities at greater risk.
“We only seek parity with communities in Lincoln and Boston, who, contrary to the assurances of the CCG, will suffer more if our residents have to take up space in their A&E waiting rooms and in their Acute Care Unit beds as will their staff.”
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