Agenda and minutes

To receive comments or views from members of the public at the Committee’s discretion.

Councillor Morgan spoke as a member of the public in her capacity as chairman of SOS Grantham Hospital. She read from a letter that had been sent to United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust by the group. The letter invited comments on provision of a number of acute services it considered critical for local residents:

·         Fully operational Accident and Emergency unit with fully qualified A&E consultants and nursing staff

·         Consultant-led midwifery unit

·         Consultant-led paediatric unit

The Committee to be notified of any substitute members.

The Committee was notified that Council Selby would be substituting for Councillor Davidson for this meeting only.

Members are asked to declare an interest in matters for consideration at the meeting.

No interests were disclosed.

Representatives from Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust and the South-West Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group will talk to the Committee about current and future service provision at Grantham and District Hospital, particularly in respect of Accident and Emergency and mental health services.

The Chairman welcomed the following representatives to the meeting:

·         Clair Raybould – Head of Business Improvement and Delivery from South West Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

·         Allan Kitt – Chief Operating Officer from South West Lincolnshire CCG

·         Dr Dave Baker – GP Vine House Surgery and Urgent Care Lead GP for the CCG

·         Jane Lewington – Director of Strategy and Performance, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT)

·         Helen Sirs – Deputy Director Grantham hospital

The representatives explained that the South West Lincolnshire CCG would lead healthcare provision in the area from 1 April 2013. It covered a population of 128,000 centred round Grantham and Sleaford. There were 19 medical practices covering urban and rural areas. Patients were directed to hospitals in Grantham, Lincoln, Nottingham and Peterborough.

The CCG had agreed a vision:

·         If it is possible and the right thing to treat patients locally, they should be treated locally

·         Treatment must be safe and cost-effective

·         If patients need to see a specialist they should expect the best quality of healthcare

·         Services should be joined up

·         Care should start at home; as much as possible, patients should be treated at home

The population of the area was aging. As resources were limited, they needed to reflect priority need and the demographics of residents. The efficiency agenda for Lincolnshire was approximately £275m over a three-year period.

The Shaping Health for Mid-Kesteven programme started in 2010 when a stakeholder board which included representatives from district and county councils and patient groups had been developed. Councillors were told that in previous programmes local GPs felt that a lot of proposed changes to Grantham hospital had been determined from a county level.

Models of care were produced which would deliver the CCG’s vision. These would be subject to public consultation, which was due to commence in September 2012. Implementation was scheduled to begin from January 2013. The representatives reported that the future of Grantham hospital was bright and it would play a key role for the county in the delivery of some services. The panel was confident that safe and efficient services would be provided in the longer term. They also indicated there would be a significant role providing accident and emergency services and acute medicine on the site.

Proposed changes to the accident and emergency department would see the development of an integrated service incorporating out of hours provision, support from mental health services and social care. Specialist GPs would also work alongside A & E consultants. This enhanced current out of hours service provision. While there was not a GP in the hospital after 11pm, one remained on call until 8am.

There were also plans for Grantham hospital to play an increased role in the delivery of planned care, for example hip and shoulder surgery, for which many patients were currently referred to Nottingham.

Grantham hospital has played a key role in the delivery of countywide services including cardiology, providing specialist imaging support. It was anticipated that the public consultation would include other  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The meeting was closed at 11:21am.