Updates from Group Board

Tuesday 4 November 2025

Dear colleague

Welcome to Updates from Group Board for the Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG). This Group is made up of Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) and United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH).

The Group Board operates as the joint board and decision-making body for both statutory organisations and this update is designed to inform colleagues and stakeholders of the discussion and decisions being taken at both the Group and individual Trust level.

We held our most recent Group Board meeting on Tuesday 4 November 2025, which was open for members of the public to join virtually. The full Board meeting papers can be found on the Trust Board papers page on the website.

Patient and staff story: The Board heard a fantastic story highlighting the 262 amazing volunteers who currently work across the Group, who collectively gave 45,000 hours of volunteering last year to support patients and staff alike.

The story focussed on volunteer Paul Cartwright, whose passion and drive has resulted in a piece of work to improve access to syringe drivers for palliative care patients.  After identifying that there were issues with losing these vital pieces of equipment when patients are discharged into community settings, Paul took it upon himself to set up a process of formally tracking the syringe drivers, contacting community nurses to remind them of the need to return them. He then helps to get them back on the wards at Lincoln County Hospital, so that they are ready to benefit the next patient. Working with the Clinical Engineering team, he has enabled many more patients to have access to the medication they need via a syringe driver in a more timely manner. Paul’s story is just one example of the amazing things that volunteers do to go above and beyond to support Lincolnshire’s NHS.

The full story can be found on our YouTube channel.

Celebrating Group success – Ward accreditation- Witham Ward at Lincoln County Hospital was celebrated in the Diamond Quality Accreditation Scheme with a Bronze Award. This recognises wards and departments that demonstrate consistently high standards of patient care and evidence of their improvement journey, measured through a variety of metrics. 

Ward leaders presented an example of the innovative work they have done to reduce the number of patient falls on the ward, working with the whole team to come up with ideas to help support patients in a more pro-active way. The team gave examples of changes they have made to nursing practice and to the ward layout to improve visibility and reduce falls risks, as well as introducing the Board to Stanley- their toolkit of resources that can be used to reduce falls risk.

As a direct result of the hard work they have put in, the ward has been able to report harm free care for falls for over 30 days. The team is now exploring how their ideas can be shared with other wards and department across the Group, to benefit even more patients.

Celebrating Group success – Bowel screening service story: The Board heard a story about some collaborative work between the Group and Lincolnshire ICB around improving access to bowel screening, focusing on areas of deprivation where the uptake of screening is low. The presentation described how the bowel cancer screening programme in Lincolnshire is a huge success story, screening over 23,000 people since it began, and diagnosing around 1,000 cancers that may not otherwise have been detected or caught as early.

The teams described a focussed piece of work that looked at four areas of the county where uptake of screening is low, where they have used data and insight, community engagement and co-production to develop targeted outreach and tailored campaigns to improve uptake. This hyper-localised approach is the first step to targeting interventions where they are most needed and will make the biggest impact for patients.

Good news stories:

• As part of the East Midlands Neuro-Oncology Service, which supports patients across the region with brain tumours, ULTH has been awarded the prestigious Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence status. This recognition highlights the exceptional standards of treatment, care, and research delivered by the Oncology team. The award is granted to a select number of brain tumour centres across the UK, acknowledging their commitment to excellence and continuous improvement in patient outcomes.
• Following Board approval in September, the business case for the Boston Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) has now been submitted to NHS England’s national panel, and the planning application has been formally submitted. The proposed £24.9 million facility will expand diagnostic capacity across multiple modalities, including X-ray, CT, MRI, and ultrasound.
• ULTH has officially launched the Neonatal Home Phototherapy Service which is a significant step forward in providing high quality, patient-centred care for newborns and their families. This innovative service enables clinically stable newborns with mild to moderate jaundice to receive phototherapy treatment in their homes, reducing the need for prolonged hospital stays. By offering safe, convenient, and less disruptive care, the service enhances the overall family experience while maintaining clinical effectiveness.
• From Wednesday 1 October patient visiting hours at acute and community hospitals across LCHG were extended to 11am – 8pm following feedback from staff and patients. These changes reflect the Group’s commitment to patient centred care, by supporting more consistent and accessible visiting opportunities, which play a key role in the healing and wellbeing of patients.
• LCHG digital teams have worked collaboratively with partners across the Lincolnshire system to support the transition of digital support services for Lincolnshire ICB, primary care and LCHS from Arden and GEM commissioning Support Unit (AGEM CSU) into the Group. The consolidation marks a significant milestone in ongoing efforts to enhance the digital experience for colleagues.
• Following integration of Lincolnshire Urgent Community Response (UCR) and Home Visiting (HV) services, significant improvements have been made in activity levels, responsiveness and operational cohesion. The combined pathway now consistently meets the national two-hour response standard in over 90% of cases, handling approximately 2,000 visits per month.
• A new contract, hosted by Lincolnshire County Council, has been established for 35 transitional care beds commissioned across care homes in Lincolnshire. These beds are supported by community therapy teams and primary care. This service re-design has enabled the Group to re-direct funding to enhance home-based discharge support for patients (pathway 1 Discharge to Assess). A workforce plan is being delivered and is on track to significantly expand rehabilitation services delivered in patient homes.
• ULTH has successfully completed its one-year review for the Veteran Aware Accreditation, reaffirming its commitment to delivering personalised, informed, and compassionate care to veterans, serving personnel, reservists, and their families. The Trust continues to meet all eight core standards required for accreditation, demonstrating its sustained dedication to the Armed Forces Covenant.

Winter plan: This year, ULTH and LCHS have developed a joint Winter Plan, which outlines a proactive approach to managing pressures across acute and community services. The plan focuses on reducing avoidable admissions to acute hospitals, enhancing urgent and emergency care pathways and supporting timely discharge from acute hospitals through expanded virtual wards and community care.

It includes plans around expanding respiratory care, a focus on workforce, working with partners to ensure that patients who are medically fit for discharge can leave acute hospitals in a timely manner, and increasing support for children with the establishment of Paediatric Assessment Units (PAUs). It links into the Lincolnshire System Winter Plan, reflecting the same priority actions and the importance of cross-system working.

NHS National Oversight Framework: The NHS National Oversight Framework was published in September and introduces a new approach to measuring the performance of all NHS trusts. The framework assesses providers against 22 metrics across six domains, resulting in a segment rating for each organisation. Under the new framework, ULTH has been placed in Segment 4, while LCHS has been placed in Segment 3. The next set of ratings for organisations are due to be published later this month.

CQC reports: Following Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections at Lincoln County Hospital Emergency Department in October 2024, a follow-up visit in July 2025, and an inspection at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston Emergency Department in November 2024, reports were published on Thursday 4 September.

These CQC reports acknowledge the significant progress made and commended the departments for their dedication to patient care. They also highlighted improvements in key areas such as waiting times, leadership, staff training, and infection prevention. While the reports recognised many positive developments, they also noted some areas for improvement., which are being developed into an action plan to ensure positive change.

Thank you to all colleagues who work in these departments, who do a sterling job under significant pressure in caring for the people of Lincolnshire.

Electronic patient records (EPR): The new Electronic Patient Record (EPR) programme was officially launched at ULTH in September. To support the rollout of the new EPR in the coming years, engagement events were held across all sites, led by key members of the EPR Programme team and representatives from the EPR supplier Nervecentre. These events successfully engaged over 1,500 colleagues. The next phase of the programme is underway, focusing on training and knowledge transfer sessions to support clinical and administrative staff in adopting and embedding the new system.

Supporting our staff:

• LCHG staff awards 2025- The annual Group Staff Awards took place on Friday 10 October, celebrating colleagues for their outstanding contributions in patient care, innovation, leadership, and teamwork. These awards form a key part of the Group’s reward and recognition programme, designed to honour and thank staff for their dedication and impact. This year, the awards received an impressive 1,297 nominations across 13 categories, with 52 individuals and teams shortlisted, which is testament to how highly valued staff are by both colleagues and patients. Full details of the awards can be found on the website.
• Resident doctors 10 point plan- NHS England wrote to all acute provider trusts at the end of August to launch the Getting the Basics Right for Resident Doctors programme (10 point plan), with the aim of improving the working lives of resident doctors. In this letter, organisations have a range of actions they are asked to take, and the Board accepted a report on the Group self-assessment against these actions, and plans to ensure they are all implemented in a timely manner.
• ULTH establishment review- Nursing leads across the Group completed a nursing establishment review, using data from May and June to establish what nursing cover is needed for wards and services across the Group to offer safe care to patients, reflecting activity. The key highlight is that shift patterns for ward leaders has changed, allowing them to remain clinically-facing and allowing more time for management. This robust clinically-led review process has enabled consistency and safety across the workforce.
• Wellbeing and quality fundamentals leadership rounds – The Board heard about a new initiative developed across the Group, to enable senior leadership visibility and to give staff the opportunity to engage. This series of visits will bring visible, supportive leadership to every part of the organisation, with leaders from across the Group joining both clinical and non-clinical teams for focused visits every three weeks. These visits are an opportunity to listen, celebrate what’s working well, and explore where improvements can be made. The emphasis is on partnership, connection, and learning together.
• Winner at apprenticeship awards- The Group has been awarded the Overall Winner – Employer Champion at the Greater Lincolnshire Apprentice Champion Awards. Apprenticeships are a great tool for colleagues at any stage of their career to learn on the job, both for those entering a new career or taking it to the next level. This year marks ten years of the Lincolnshire Talent Academy and working with the Lincolnshire Health and Care Apprentice Centre some of the skills learned in those apprenticeships that have been delivered, will benefit the Group for the next ten years and beyond.
• Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Annual Report- The Board received the Group Freedom to Speak Up Annual Report, which described how FTSU works across the Group, and the benefits of working together across the two organisations. There is a focus on not only listening, but how the organisations close the feedback loop so that staff can feel they have been listened to and their feedback has been acted upon.
• Wellbeing day staff benefit- An additional staff benefit was launched for Group staff in October 2025, incentivising colleagues to take up a range of health and wellbeing offers – the National Staff Survey, core learning, appraisal and flu vaccination. This has had a positive impact on flu vaccination and staff survey uptake.

Review of Group Strategy delivery: The Group Strategy 2025-2030 lays out the future direction for services across Lincolnshire, and was published in April 2025. The Board received the first in a series of reports on progress against delivery of the strategy and the key actions within it.

This outlined positive progress including:

• Our Patients- Better Care: Improvements in patient safety, infection control and patient experience. Recognition of operational challenges and estates compliance actions underway.
• Our People- Better Opportunities: Progress being made around training, appraisal rates and staff recognition. Risks remain around vacancy rates, sickness absence and Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and Workforce Disability Equality Standard (EDES).
• Our Population- Better Health: Positive movement on work to move patient care out of acute hospitals into more community settings and digital innovation. Challenges remain around workforce and estates and digital resource.

Finance: At month six, the Group financial position is on plan, reporting a £14.4 million deficit. To achieve breakeven at the end of this year, there must be an ongoing focus on three internal areas:

1. Delivering additional income activity in planned care settings – elective, day case and outpatients – through improving our productivity.
2. Efficiency programme, which has delivered £24.9 million of savings year to date. This is slightly (£0.2 million) behind plan, with some schemes not delivering as expected and others over-delivering. Focus is now on strengthening schemes to ensure delivery and identifying new schemes to mitigate any gaps.
3. Workforce controls. The number of whole time equivalent (WTE) staff is reducing slowly, assisted by a current vacancy control process (VCP) and recent Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARs).

There is a focus on reducing temporary workforce, especially use of Bank staff, across all areas.

The Group is delivering its largest ever capital programme this year, at £125 million, with key schemes including Boston CDC, the first year of ULTH EPR, the new Emergency Department at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston and the new Endoscopy Unit at Lincoln County Hospital.

If you have any feedback on the discussions at the Group board, please contact [email protected]

Kind regards

Elaine Baylis

Group Chair 

Karen Dunderdale

Group Chief Executive