Introduction and overview
This section of the annual report will cover:
- Welcome from the Chair
- Trust purpose
- About the Trust
- Our Work
- Our strategic aims and objectives
- The LCHS Way
Welcome from the Chair
Welcome to our Annual Report and Accounts for Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS), which gives an overview of our progress and performance over 2021/22. We continue to work with our partners and people to provide great care, close to home.
As I write these words, we are in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. I think many of us were hoping we would be back to the familiar routine of life as we knew it prior to the pandemic. Unfortunately, the ongoing presence of the virus means that we have to continue to adapt the way we live and work to protect ourselves and those around us. This is especially important in the healthcare setting.
Throughout the last year, the trust continued working in exceptionally challenging circumstances, with COVID-19 affecting our services, staff, and patients. However, the rapid progress of the Lincolnshire vaccination programme and the enthusiasm with which people came forward to be vaccinated meant that this year we could concentrate on restoring and recovering our services in addition to the COVID response. I am very proud of the significant part that LCHS played in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations by being the lead provider for Lincolnshire vaccinations centres on the Lincolnshire Showground and Princess Royal Sports Arena in Boston and through our Sidings Medical Practice in Boston. The challenge of this cannot be underestimated and the staff involved did a fantastic job. At the same time, others in the trust have also been working hard to restore our services, supporting our patients with their recovery and providing more face-to-face contacts while also using digital solutions where appropriate, to see more patients. We know that Lincolnshire geography sometimes makes it difficult to travel for appointments and some patients prefer to have virtual check-ups when it's clinically appropriate. Colleagues have also afforded others the dignity of compassionate end of life care, despite challenges posed by the pandemic.
I would like to thank colleagues for their relentless work in the last year. Yet again, everyone has put in a massive effort. I am conscious that many people may be exhausted, and the demands they faced in 2021/22 have been like nothing experienced before. I pay humble tribute to everyone at LCHS who deserve gratitude, respect, and compassion for all their individual and collective contributions last year.
Despite the pandemic, our services continued to innovate, improve and support the newly established Lincolnshire Integrated Care System (ICS). Highlights of the year include a new Urgent Community Response service, virtual COVID, cardiac and frailty wards and the launch of physio and children’s therapy websites, just to name a few. Our teams have also managed to scoop awards or reach finals, while our dedicated staff members have been recognised locally and nationally for their outstanding services to healthcare.
I am also pleased to report that in 2021, Maz Fosh was appointed to a substantive role as LCHS Chief Executive. She has successfully led the trust in an interim capacity for the last two years. Maz navigated the trust throughout a very challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic, building on a proven track record of delivery in a range of settings. Her values, compassionate leadership and approach to collaboration and innovation were key strengths that were all demonstrated throughout the recruitment process. I would also like to thank Andrew Morgan, who served as our CEO over five years before going on his secondment to United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) and wish him all the best as he continues his role with the ULHT.
In summary, the last twelve months have been testing for our staff, volunteers and our patients, but equally, we have also experienced many successes. As we come to the end of the financial year, we are learning to live alongside COVID and move on from it. The trust emerges from 21/22 feeling the impact of the demands of the pandemic on the trust but we are resolute to move into the forthcoming year with determination to face the challenges ahead in the usual LCHS Way.
Elaine Baylis, QPM
Chair
Please click on the blue boxes to read the following sections.
Our purpose is described as “Great care, close to home”.
Lincolnshire Community Health Service NHS Trust provides a wide range of community care across Lincolnshire meeting the physical health needs of our community as close to their homes as possible.
We are working closely with our partners across health and care as part of the Lincolnshire Integrated Care System (which in our county is called Better Lives Lincolnshire). The ICS brings together all those involved in planning and providing NHS services to take a collaborative approach to agreeing and delivering ambitions for the health of their population.
There is long history of joint working in Lincolnshire between the NHS, local authority, social care, the third sector, housing and children’s services, to address the factors that determine health throughout the life course and to seek to reduce demand on health care services in a more preventative and proactive manner. In the last 18 months there has been a real step-change in the strength and effectiveness of this partnership working.
Our focus on the NHS Long Term Plan priorities and local population health needs continue to provide the opportunities to make positive changes to healthcare in Lincolnshire ensuring care is close to home and acute care is focussed on those people in most need.
We will see a renewed and refreshed focus on pathways of care developed with partners and patients through the Better Lives Lincolnshire Integrated Care System. Working even closer with GP practices and their overarching Primary Care Networks (PCNs) using population health information and data to make sure health funding is directed to those that need it, in the most efficient way. This will support patients and their families to manage and own their healthcare needs, enabling them to look after themselves to get better quicker and see great outcomes.
The trust has a wide portfolio of healthcare services that includes:
- community nursing to support patients to get better care closer to home
- children and young people’s services, including children in care (previously known as looked after children) and children’s therapy services
- electronic assistive technology service (EATS)
- general and specialist integrated community nursing, immunisation and vaccination services
- inpatient beds and outpatient clinics
- four community hospitals
- urgent care services including Urgent Treatment Centres at Louth, Skegness, Lincoln, Boston and Peterborough (until July 2021) which were joined by our new, upgraded urgent care services at Gainsborough and Spalding
- jointly provided temporary urgent treatment centre at Grantham Hospital
- musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapy services
- occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy
- podiatry service
- primary care services in Boston and Spalding
- safeguarding services for both children and adults
- integrated sexual health and contraceptive health
About the trust
LCHS cares for patients across the whole of Lincolnshire and parts of Peterborough.
The services we deliver are commissioned by a number of organisations including NHS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and Lincolnshire County Council (LCC).
Our services are delivered from over 64 different sites; our main sites are:
- Trust Head Quarters – Beech House, Lincoln
- Lincoln County Hospital,
- Louth County Hospital
- Pilgrim Hospital, Boston
- Grantham and District Hospital
- Grantham Community Base
- John Coupland Hospital, Gainsborough
- Johnson Community Hospital, Spalding
- Bourne Health Clinic
- Riversdale Health Clinic, Sleaford
- Lindon House, Lincoln
We deliver a diverse portfolio of community healthcare services through a range of trained healthcare professional including nurses, allied health professionals, public health professionals, medics and GPs enabling great care across our communities. Our services are delivered through our 2,132 committed staff. Throughout the last year our amazing workforce have been an integral part of the system-wide response to COVID-19 ensuring patients receive care close to home without the need to be admitted to an acute hospital. Many of our colleagues have retrained to be able to care for patients in a different service or alternative role to support the services that were needed most during the pandemic.
Our staff provide high quality clinical care and expertise, coordinate, connect and advocate for patients and carers in addition to driving digital innovation to improve access to services. This includes core areas such as:
- Leading integration and joint working opportunities
- Supporting people with long term conditions
- Frailty and end of life care, including better dedicated care home support
- Urgent care
- Specialists in prevention, case management, risk management and appropriate discharge
- Details of our services are available on our website.
Our approach to care and working together is important to us. All our staff work in an ‘LCHS Way’. This reinforces the right behaviours and approach we take in everything we do, contributing to better care for patients and a better working environment in our Trust.
The LCHS Way is “we listen, we care, we act, we improve”
We listen: we engage with everyone we work with | we are united | we are always positive
We care: everyone is valued, respected and developed | knowledge and skills are nurtured | success is celebrated
We act: Clear goals and the right resources | freedom coupled with accountability | emphasis on simplicit
We improve: we are creative, resourceful and innovative | integration & collaboration is the way forward | we’re always striving to do better
Introduction and overview page list
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This section of the annual report will cover: welcome from the Chair, Trust purpose, about the Trust, our work, our strategic aims and objectives, and the LCHS way.
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This section of the annual report will cover: An overview by Maz Fosh, Chief Executive, LCHS 2021/22 key facts and figures, financial performance, highlights of the year, summary of LCHS structure and the services provided, challenges facing healthcare in Lincolnshire, Long Term Plan priorities and quality summary of performance
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This section of the annual report will cover: Scope of responsibilities and the risk and control framework, freedom to speak up, system working and partnerships, review of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the use of resources directors’ report - Composition of the Board of Directors and review of effectiveness.
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This section of the annual report will cover: Board members and senior management remuneration (subject to audit), salaries and allowances for the year ending 31 March 2022 (subject to audit), salaries and allowances for the year ending 31 March 2021 (subject to audit), pension benefits for the year ending 31 March 2022 (subject to audit), pension benefits for the year ending 31 March 2021 (subject to audit), NHS Pensions Data, Cash Equivalent Transfer Values, real increase in CETV, relationship between the remuneration report and exit packages, severance payments and off-payroll engagements disclosures, remuneration policy for directors and senior managers, compensation on early retirement or for loss of office, payments to past directors, fair pay disclosure (subject to audit), sharing of senior members of staff, exit packages (subject to audit), off-payroll engagements (subject to audit),staff report, staff numbers and costs, NHS Staff Survey results, health and safety at work, staff sickness and staff turnover data and expenditure on consultancy.
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This section of the annual report will cover the financial statements for 2021-22.