NHS approves plan to move hospital services

Health bosses have approved a number of measures, including transferring trauma patients from Scunthorpe to Grimsby

Plans to move some services from Scunthorpe General Hospital to Grimsby have been approved.

The decision means the care of trauma patients will be moved to Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, in Grimsby.

Some medical specialities for people with heart, lung or stomach conditions will also be transferred, with overnight emergency surgery shared across hospitals in northern Lincolnshire and Hull.

Councillor Rob Waltham, the leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said it amounted to a "serious downgrade" of services.

NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) approved the revised plans at a meeting on Wednesday following a consultation.

Once implemented, around seven patients per day are likely to be transferred from Scunthorpe to Grimsby for their care, with the majority continuing to use the service as they do at the moment, the ICB said.

'Complex challenges'

Health bosses said the move would help deliver “seven-day consultant-led care” across specialist services and reduce the length of hospital stays.

Dr Nigel Wells, the ICB’s executive director of clinical and professional, said: “The challenges within the NHS are many and complex and we know for a lot of people [it] is not working as well as they would like.

“Today’s decision will put hospital services like trauma and overnight emergency surgery on a much more sustainable footing and will mean there is seven-day consultant-led care and improved clinical outcomes for people living in northern Lincolnshire."

A proposed change that would have seen overnight paediatric care consolidated in Grimsby was not included in the final recommendations.

'Serious downgrade'

Responding to announcement, Mr Waltham – whose council had threatened to seek a judicial review – said: “These cuts to hospital services means a serious downgrade to Scunthorpe General Hospital with longer journeys for local residents and their loved ones.

“The council, along with many other local residents, fought hard against this downgrade during the consultation process and we have frankly been ignored.

“I will be seeking an urgent meeting with the local NHS to call for them to listen to our views."

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