Health bosses revise proposals for service changes at Scunthorpe Hospital
It's in relation to children's services
Hospital care for children requiring a more than 24 hours stay is no longer planned to be moved from Scunthorpe.
The NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is to consider revised proposals for changes to service elements at Scunthorpe General Hospital.
Consideration of responses from a 14-week public consultation, which was held from autumn 2023 to early 2024, has led to revisions to original proposals. Overnight paediatric care, where children require a more than 24 hours stay in hospital, will no longer be moved solely to Grimsby.
It will remain at both Scunthorpe General Hospital and Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby. Not all overnight emergency surgery will be moved to Grimsby anymore, too. Instead, consolidation will take place at different hospitals across northern Lincolnshire and Hull, depending on the specialty.
What remains the same is the plan for the trauma unit and individuals with heart, lung or stomach conditions who require a longer stay in hospital (more than three days), to be pooled to Grimsby. If the ICB Board agrees to the revised proposal being put forward, it is anticipated around seven patients per day would be transferred from Scunthorpe to Grimsby for their care.
The local NHS says the proposed changes will help deliver “seven-day consultant-led care” across specialist services, improve the quality of care patients receive, and reduce length of hospital stays.
Anja Hazebroek, the ICB’s senior responsible officer for involvement and consultation, said: “The proposal we consulted on was designed to ensure the sustainable delivery of a small number of hospital services that would meet the needs of patients across the region now and in the future, as well as tackling a range of challenges faced by the NHS in our region.
“We were eager to seek the views of those most likely to be impacted by change and ensure everyone who wanted to take part and share their views was given sufficient opportunities, sufficient information and sufficient time to do so.
“Over the 14 and a half weeks of the consultation, we ran a series of engagement events, targeted focus groups, social media advertising and targeted leaflet drops, supported by a comprehensive communications and marketing strategy. Almost 4,000 people responded to the consultation questionnaire and thousands more were engaged through the programme of events. Written submissions were also received from a range of stakeholders.
“This was never just a box-ticking exercise. The views and evidence provided during this public consultation have been invaluable and without question have shaped the decision-making business case and informed the recommendations which the ICB board is now being asked to consider.”
The ICB’s board will meet on July 10th.