Grantham Hospital A&E changes part of consultation plans

Grantham's A&E department reduced its hours in 2016 and was temporarily downgraded in June 2020

An accident and emergency department at the centre of a long-running row could be downgraded to an urgent care centre.

Grantham Hospital introduced a daytime-only accident and emergency service in 2016, sparking a backlash from campaigners.

NHS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is now consulting on plans to replace it with a 24-hour urgent care centre.

It is part of a 12-week consultation on the future of four local NHS services.

Health bosses said around 97% of patients would continue to be treated at the hospital if the changes were brought in, with the remainder receiving care in the most appropriate setting, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The A&E department was previously downgraded to an urgent care centre in June 2020 to allow Grantham Hospital to operate as a Covid-free "green" site, but resumed A&E services earlier this year.

Other proposals include Grantham becoming a "centre of excellence" for planned orthopaedic surgery, with unplanned operations moving to Lincoln and Boston.

Louth would also become a dedicated day centre, with stroke services centralised in Lincoln.

Dr Dave Baker, GP and clinical lead at the CCG, said: "We know that some of our services cannot stay as they are, because they don't always meet safety standards or performance targets, they are inefficient or we struggle to staff them sufficiently.

"We all now need to embrace the idea of changing and modernising to bring about better outcomes for our patients and better services, that are safely staffed and high performing," he added.

The consultation is due to run until 23 December.

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