Gareth Davies and Dr Caroline Johnson met with the Chief Executive of the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust Andrew Morgan, to discuss the ongoing situation over the 24/7 access to Grantham Hospital and to discuss the long term future of the Grantham & District Hospital.
It was a positive meeting in which Caroline and Gareth both pressed the case to get the hospital doors re-opened on a 24/7 basis, and to see more services delivered locally from the Grantham Hospital site.
Over the last few weeks, meetings have been held with the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Matt Hancock MP and both the Chief Officer and GP Lead for the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to discuss the ongoing overnight closure. This is alongside meetings with local campaigners and activists to ensure their voices are heard.
We were also pleased to hear of an increase in elective surgery being proposed at the hospital with the one day knee replacement surgery, which is a positive development for the continued use of our hospital site.
Gareth Davies MP comments; “It was a very constructive conversation with Andrew Morgan, I re-iterated my commitment to restoring 24/7 access to Grantham’s Hospital as well as securing the long term future of healthcare services in our area. I have also invited Edward Argar MP, Minister for Health on a visit to Grantham Hospital to meet with ULHT and the CCG and he confirmed this recently in the House of Commons Chamber. Grantham Hospital is vitally important to all our constituents within Grantham and the surrounding villages, I would encourage all campaign groups and individuals to work together to ensure one clear message is being heard.”
Dr Caroline Johnson MP comments; “There is a clear need to restore the 24/7 A&E service at Grantham Hospital and I was clear that this is of vital importance to my constituents who rely on the availability of services. We also discussed the need for capital investment to support healthcare in our area long term. Gareth and I will continue to press the Health Secretary and NHS England to provide the support and resources needed. Grantham Hospital serves people from across the area and is a valued part of the NHS in Lincolnshire, so seeing improvements to the care and services available remains one of my top priorities.”
Andrew Morgan, Chief Executive of ULHT comments; “I had a very positive and constructive meeting with Gareth Davies MP and Caroline Johnson MP at Grantham and District Hospital. Amongst other things, we discussed the importance of 24/7 access to urgent and emergency care services, the need to push on with public consultation about the future of services on the site, and making sure that we are all pro-active about the many good things going on in the hospital. I was able to confirm that the hospital will continue to play a key role in the provision of health services for local people. I look forward to ongoing discussions with the public and their representatives about this very important part of the local community”.
