Scunthorpe General Hospital changes ‘will increase health inequalities’, councils say. So what happens next?

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A joint panel of Humberside and Lincolnshire councils has said asking patients from the Scunthorpe area to travel to Grimsby for some hospital services will inevitably increase health inequalities.

The Humber Acute Services Review proposes “pooling” elements of departments which at present have a presence both in Grimsby and at Scunthorpe General Hospital. Under the changes, some services would only be based at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby, in future.

This includes care of adult patients with heart, lung or stomach problems who may need a more than 72 hours stay in hospital, and children and young people who need a more than 24 hours hospital stay. A public consultation finished earlier this month and a decision on whether to proceed with all the proposals will be made by NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board from May.

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Staffing shortages and ensuring the provision of consultant-led care seven days a week are primary reasons behind the proposals to pool services. Latest modelling suggests “substantially less” than 14 patients a day would be affected.

Nevertheless, a panel of councillors said they strongly believed that the changes “will inevitably increase health inequalities for residents”. The Humber and Lincolnshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) met twice to discuss the proposed changes. It is made up of councillors from across the region.

The report compiled by the panel concluded that health inequalities among residents would be increased, while the proposals “will do nothing to address either the financial or capital estate situation”. The panel has reserved the right to take action as necessary given these “fundamental concerns”.

The report was also critical of a “multi-agency transport working group” being formed by the NHS during the consultation, rather than before. This group is looking at ways to ease possible transport issues – for example, a patient discharged in Grimsby might not be able to drive back to Scunthorpe. A contribution from Hull City Council’s health committee suggested that the consideration of such transport issues seemed “to be an after-thought”.

Last autumn, North Lincolnshire Council unanimously agreed a motion to object to the changes and reserved the right to launch a judicial review. Cllrs Max Bell and Judith Matthews (Ashby Lakeside Ward) wrote a letter to the ICB during the consultation calling for a pause to the proposals. This was in part to allow for “a detailed, fully funded transport mitigation plan” to be produced.

Main entrance to Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby - the proposals would see the likes of out-of-hours emergency surgery cases pooled to Grimsby — Main entrance to Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby – the proposals would see the likes of out-of-hours emergency surgery cases pooled to Grimsby
(Image: Donna Clifford)

What happens next?

The consultation lasted more than three months. Alex Seale, the ICB’s North Lincolnshire director, previously told councillors that “the consultation is not a referendum”. However, it may result in changes to the proposals.

A spokesperson for the Integrated Care Board said that the depth of feedback had shaped the new indicative date for when a decision would be made. The spokesperson said: “When the decision to go out to consultation was taken last July, we had proposed bringing recommendations back to the ICB Board this March.

“However, as a result of the considerable engagement in the consultation process by residents, NHS staff and stakeholders and the rich and valuable feedback we have received, we want to ensure this can be carefully analysed and considered and then used in a meaningful way to shape any final proposals before they’re put forward for a decision.

“We believe the March timeline originally suggested would be too tight for this to happen – particularly as we decided to extend the consultation period to 14 weeks to ensure everyone had the opportunity to have their say. We are now working towards bringing recommendations to the ICB public board meeting in May, though other factors, such as local elections may mean we might have to look at a later date.”

Its priority was to ensure all feedback from the consultation was carefully considered and factored into a final business case. On the JHOSC comments, the Integrated Care Board spokesperson said: “We would like to thank elected members for their feedback.” There had been “tremendous engagement from our communities in and around northern Lincolnshire”.

The spokesperson said: “All of the information and feedback we’ve received from residents and stakeholders – including local councils – will be collated, independently analysed and compiled into a feedback report by an independent research organisation, Opinion Research Services (ORS).

“This report will tell everyone, including decision-makers, what the public and all our stakeholders have told us. We will then use this information to help us write our decision-making business case, which will make a recommendation or series of recommendations on how we should proceed.”

Other material information, like updated activity or workforce modelling, will also be considered. What changes may occur will be phased in from 2024 to 2029, subject to possible judicial reviews.

Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe

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Scunthorpe General Hospital changes ‘will increase health inequalities’, councils say. So what happens next?

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Governments pledge to ban trail hunting in spotlight as Boxing Day hunts meet

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