Letter to ULHT Chief Executive Jan Sobieraj from NHS Improvement relating to temporary change to Grantham A&E

Letter to ULHT Chief Executive Jan Sobieraj from NHS Improvement relating to temporary change to A&E service at Grantham hospital

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Letter to ULHT Chief Executive Jan Sobieraj from NHS Improvement relating to temporary change to Grantham A&E:

Dear Jan

Temporary emergency change to Accident and Emergency service at Grantham Hospital

I am writing to inform you that NHS Improvement (NHSI) and NHS England (NHSE) have received assurance regarding the decision made by the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) Board on 01 November 2016, to maintain the current opening hours of the Accident and Emergency Department at Grantham Hospital.

To assist in consideration of this matter NHSI and NHSE co-chaired a meeting on 11 November 2016 at which ULHT presented its assessment of the impact of the temporary closure, an update on the recruitment and retention of A&E medical staff, and the decision reached by the Board on 01 November 2016.

In addition to the feedback received from ULHT, representatives from the following bodies provided feedback on the impact of the temporary closure from the perspective of their organisations;

 Healthwatch;

 South West Lincolnshire CCG;

 Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust;

 Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust;

 East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust;

The feedback received during the meeting confirmed that to date no serious incidents had been recorded by ULHT in relation to the temporary closure, or by the other organisations represented. There was reference to some examples of sub-optimal patient and carer experience since the closure commenced, and all parties agreed that their organisations would individually and collectively take actions to minimise the impact on patient and carer experience.

Information supplied by ULHT identified that the threshold you had set for the fill rate of medical posts (no deterioration in the current consultant position and a fill rate of at least 75% (21 WTE) of the Middle Grade establishment (28 WTE) on an 8 week prospective basis), and which was referenced in my previous letter on this matter, had not been reached.

We require the Trust to keep NHSI informed of progress with regards to the recruitment and retention of A&E medical staff and to continue to work closely with local stakeholder organisations to enhance patient and carer experience. The Trust must also immediately inform NHSI if any serious incidents that may relate directly to the temporary closure of the A&E Department at Grantham Hospital are recorded.

Yours sincerely

Jeffrey Worrall

Delivery and Improvement Director

NHS I letter- Grantham Hospital temporary closure