Grantham Hospital: More services under threat as trust proposes cuts

The nuclear medicine department is used by is used by about 2,500 patients a year

A hospital at the centre of a row over plans to downgrade its A&E department looks set to lose yet more services.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) has launched a 12-week consultation into the future of its nuclear medicine facilities.

It says the department, which manages tests such as heart and bone scans, is "unsustainable" and wants to centralise services by closing Grantham's unit.

Campaigners in Grantham have described it as another blow to the town.

'Deemed unsustainable'

There are over 20 different tests that nuclear medicine can perform and are used to investigate conditions such as Parkinson's disease or stomach disorders.

The service currently provided in Boston, Grantham and Lincoln, is used by about 2,500 patients a year, ULHT said.

However, the trust said the service had long faced challenges around staffing, aging equipment and sustainability.

It is consulting on whether to centralise services in Lincoln, or at both Lincoln and Boston.

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

Head of Nuclear Medicine for ULHT, Laura White, said resources were "spread very thinly across the county".

"Whilst we know that centralising our service at one or two hospital sites rather than three may mean that some patients have to travel further for their tests, we believe this is the best option to ensure a sustainable and efficient service for the future," she added.

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Campaigner Jody Clark, from Fighting 4 Grantham Hospital, said patients had already seen a raft of services cut over the past 20 years, and it was unfair for them to be forced to travel to access yet another service.

"It's always us that lose services," she said, adding that "journeys to Lincoln or Boston from Grantham aren't the easiest to make".

A public consultation over the future of Grantham's A&E was held last year. A final decision is yet to be made.