21.12.16
Council unanimously passes motion against Lincolnshire STP hospital closures
Plans to downgrade A&E and maternity services at Lincolnshire’s hospitals as part of the region’s sustainability and transformation plan (STP) have been condemned by the county council.
Lincolnshire County Council unanimously passed a motion condemning plans to downgrade the A&E at Grantham Hospital at a meeting last Friday.
The STP says that A&E services will be replaced by an urgent care centre, although the model is “not yet fully developed”.
The council’s motion stated that the proposals were “completely unacceptable” and would “have a serious and detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of residents”.
It also condemned plans to develop a single maternity team across Lincoln and Boston Pilgrim hospitals (pictured), meaning maternity services will close at Boston.
Intended to transform care, the STPs have been accused of being used to drive through hospital closures and excluding local councils.
Mark Lloyd, chair of the LGA, recently predicted that the STPs would “meet opposition” in areas where councils were not involved.
Camden Council has expressed “serious reservations” about the North Central London STP, while Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin councils have refused to endorse their region’s STP because it is too focused on the future of hospitals.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to scrutinise the capital’s STPs and accused them of being delivered with a lack of transparency which suggested they were driven by political and financial motives.
The Lincolnshire County Council motion was introduced by the Conservatives’ Cllr Mark Whittington, with help from another Conservative, Ray Wooten. However, it was seconded by a Labour councillor, Charmaine Morgan.
The motion did express support for some aspects of the STP, such as neighbourhood teams to deliver integrated community care, but also called on all NHS organisations across the country to conduct a full public consultation on the proposals.
Lincolnshire Health and Care, which is charged with delivering the STP, said: “We welcome the fact that councillors have taken the time today to discuss Lincolnshire’s new five year health and care plan called the STP.
“We believe we have a strong and credible plan to transform health care – both improving health and wellbeing and ensuring we can provide high quality services. We are committed to making sure that every pound we spend delivers real value for all the people of Lincolnshire.”
It added that the county council will have a key role to play in leading on some elements of the plan, “for instance how we improve health and wellbeing and how we integrate health and social care provision to provide a better experience for our residents”.
The statement noted that no final decisions had been made on hospital reconfiguration, and that it would carry out “an open and transparent public consultation” in the New Year. However, it warned that it would have to make “difficult choices” because of the “limited resources” available.
The NHS as a whole is facing a £22bn shortfall by 2020, with chancellor Philip Hammond refusing to release any extra funding in the recent Autumn Statement.
Have you got a story to tell? Would you like to become an NHE columnist? If so, click here.