Why are TWO Trusts running the same hospital? UK NHS

There's a point in time when what appear to be small local issues, become more controversial as you dig deeper into them.

One example surrounds my local Louth County Hospital in Lincolnshire, (not the one in Ireland).

Louth is a market town of 16,000 people and rising. The area the hospital covers has a population of 25,000. Louth itself is growing, with numerous housing projects underway. As well as the hospital, the town has just TWO GP Surgeries.

In it's heyday, (with a town population of 11,000), Louth County Hospital held 200 inpatient beds. It also had theatres and an A & E, that served the town and surrounding villages. The larger towns of Horncastle and Alford, now served by Louth, had their own hospitals. Louth had onsite accommodation for doctors and nurses who moved to the town from outside. Louth even had a second "maternity" hospital. This has long been closed.

Fighting 4 Louth Hospital campaigner
 Keiran Speed, with Artist Jayne Cooper Angel (2017)

By early 2016, Louth County Hospital held 54 inpatient beds on two ward units. By mid 2017, the hospital was "evacuated" due to an adverse Fire Report, that deemed the doors in the facility as "unsafe". Despite promises to the contrary, when the wards were eventually reopened, the inpatient bed capacity was reduced to just SIXTEEN!

The once fully functioning A & E department has been reduced, first to and Urgent Care Centre, then to an Urgent Treatment Centre. This is SUPPOSED to be a 24/7 facility, but increasingly, patients turn up, to find it closed, especially at night. The reason usually is "Staff shortages". On investigation, these shortages are at other hospitals in the Trust and Louth staff are sent to cover, thus meaning the Louth facility is closed. 

There have been instances where people have arrived, only to be told to drive to another A & E, either at Lincoln or Grimsby. The latter is not even in the same NHS Trust as Louth. It is commonplace to hear of people waiting at those hospitals in ambulances for anywhere between 1 and 14 hours. They are overrun, yet Louth continues to pour more people into them.

Louth Hospital 24/7 UTC Shut!

People phoning in are often directed away from Louth hospital. There have been occasions when ambulance crews have been instructed not to take people to their local hospital in Louth, but to transport them to Grimsby, Lincoln or Boston.

So why does this hospital. that is operated by TWO Trusts, have to close the 24/7 Urgent Treatment facility?

The two Trusts are United Lincolnshire Hospitals (ULHT) and Lincolnshire Community Hospital Services (LCHS). Basically, ULHT run 2 Theatres, a Day Surgical ward and, X-ray, MRI and Outpatients. LCHS run the UTC, the Frailty Assessment Unit and ward.

Perhaps the real question should be: Why TWO Trusts running one very small hospital?

We will be writing to our local MP, Vicky Atkins, the newly appointed Health Secretary, to explain.







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