Agenda and minutes
PDF 120 KBVenue: Council Chamber - South Kesteven House, St. Peter's Hill, Grantham. NG31 6PZ. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services
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Statement
Minutes: The Chairman of the Council, prior to the commencement of formal proceedings and further to his request, invited Councillor Ian Selby to make a statement.
Councillor Selby referred to comments he had made at the previous meeting of Full Council regarding working from home which, in hindsight, he felt he should have made more tactfully. At the meeting he had said that working from home could lead to a culture of laziness. Councillor Selby explained he was not insinuating that everyone who worked from home was lazy and apologised for the implication of that comment. |
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Apologies for absence
Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ashley Baxter, David Bellamy, Pam Bosworth, Bob Broughton, George Chivers, John Cottier, John Dawson, Rosemary Kaberry-Brown, Anna Kelly, Jane Kingman, Nikki Manterfield, Annie Mason, Virginia Moran, Nick Robins, Penny Robins, Susan Sandall, Jacky Smith, Judy Smith, Judy Stevens, Ian Stokes, Jill Thomas, Rosemary Trollope-Bellew, Dean Ward, Hannah Westropp, Amanda Wheeler, Mark Whittington, Jane Woods and Paul Woods. |
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Disclosure of Interests
Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting. Minutes: No interests were disclosed. |
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Grantham and District Hospital
The following Councillors signed a requisition to call for an extraordinary meeting of Full Council to consider the outcome of the Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Acute Service Review, which includes a proposed permanent downgrade of Grantham and District Hospital Accident and Emergency to an Urgent Treatment Centre:
Councillor Ashley Baxter Councillor Graham Jeal Councillor Anna Kelly Councillor Nikki Manterfield Councillor Virginia Moran Councillor Charmaine Morgan Councillor Kaffy Rice-Oxley Councillor Ian Selby Councillor Lee Steptoe Councillor Adam Stokes Councillor Mark Whittington Councillor Linda Wootten Councillor Ray Wootten Minutes: The Chairman introduced the item and confirmed that thirteen Councillors had signed a requisition to call for this extraordinary meeting to consider the outcome of the Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Acute Service Review, which included a proposed permanent downgrade of Grantham and District Hospital Accident and Emergency facility to an Urgent Treatment Centre.
Councillor Charmaine Morgan proposed the following motion:
“South Kesteven District Council opposes any downgrade of Grantham and District Hospital Accident and Emergency Services. We call for a full restoration of 24/7 Accident and Emergency services and acute beds available at Grantham and District Hospital prior to its nights closure in August 2016.
Any loss of acute care at Grantham and District Hospital will result in the most sick, most vulnerable including our elderly, our children, our lowest income, our disabled residents and those without cars or unable to drive, having to travel among the furthest for Acute medical treatment. This includes the latest proposal to downgrade Grantham and District Accident and Emergency by Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group in its Acute Service Review 2021 which will cement the reduction in acute services made by the Clinical Commissioning Group and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust over several years. According to the Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Acute Service Review 2021, this will require up to 700 acutely ill local people a year to travel to alternative Accident and Emergency sites for appropriate care. It will result in worsened medical outcomes for those people and put lives at risk.”
The proposal was seconded by Councillor Ian Selby.
Councillor Morgan in presenting the motion made the following points:
· Grantham and District Hospital served a community of over 120,000 people, however, for over a decade public health bodies had nurtured a strategic objective to streamline acute NHS services and centralise them as much as possible at Lincoln County Hospital · There had been numerous attempts to close or downgrade Grantham and District Hospital’s Accident and Emergency facility · A significant obstacle faced by campaigners was a denial that Grantham and District Hospital had an Accident and Emergency facility at all. Through Freedom of Information requests, evidence of which was used to support a judicial review, it was proven that such a facility had been in place at the hospital based on the type and severity of conditions treated there, ranging from minor to life-threatening injuries · Prior to the night closure, over 36,000 people visited the Accident and Emergency facility each year with over 4,400 patients being admitted directly into the hospital via emergency ambulances alone, staying in 77 acute beds · Grantham was at least 25 miles away from the next nearest alternative Accident and Emergency facility and required a minimum journey time of 45 minutes depending on time of day and road conditions · Independent evidence indicated that in an acute emergency, distance and time could mean the difference between life and death, risk increasing with every mile travelled · The consultation carried out by the Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group was contentious and lacked key details, ... view the full minutes text for item 22. |