Hospital could lose vital services due to nurse shortages
Posted 27 September 2023 - 09:00
Consultation wants your views on proposal to move emergency surgery from Scunthorpe General Hospital to another site amid concerns that care has become ‘unsafe and unsustainable’
An NHS hospital in the east of England could lose vital services, including its trauma centre and emergency surgery, due to chronic workforce shortages and nurse recruitment issues.
Staff at Scunthorpe General Hospital in north Lincolnshire could be moved 30 miles away under proposals to relocate some services to the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby.
‘Doing nothing is not an option’
The Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which oversees health and care in the region, has launched a public consultation on plans to transfer emergency surgery, long-stay patients and overnight paediatric care amid concerns that care has become ‘unsafe and unsustainable’ at the Scunthorpe hospital.
According to the consultation document, ‘doing nothing is not an option’ as the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG), which manages both hospitals, says it does not have enough specialist staff to offer services, forcing them rely on costly agency nurses and locum doctors.
‘We face difficulties attracting nurses with the right skills’
ICB north Lincolnshire director Alex Seale said: ‘We want to give people the very best care, in the best place, when they need it. However, we face difficulties attracting and keeping enough doctors, nurses and specialist staff with the right skills and expertise.
‘We also rely too heavily on temporary staff to fill the gaps, which is costly and inefficient. Despite our best efforts, we have to acknowledge that in some cases patients are waiting too long for expert emergency diagnosis and treatment.’
Rota gaps mean clinical teams ‘spread too thinly’
The consultation document states that nearly a third of the staff at the trust are eligible to retire within the next five to ten years, but due to national shortages it is ‘struggling to recruit due to lack of opportunities for research and education’.
It also states that gaps in rotas due to staffing vacancies are putting pressure on existing teams, with clinical teams ‘spread too thinly’. This means the trust is failing to meet national targets in its emergency departments.
Trust aims to tackle ‘critical staff shortages’
NLaG chief medical officer Kate Wood said: ‘If the changes are implemented, we believe we can organise our teams more effectively so we can tackle the critical shortages in our workforce and improve training and development opportunities.’
The 14-week consultation is open until 5 January 2024.
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