Updates from Group Board

Dear colleague

Welcome to Updates from Group Board for the Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG). This Group is made up of Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) and United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH).

The Group Board operates as the joint board and decision-making body for both statutory organisations and this update is designed to inform colleagues and stakeholders of the discussion and decisions being taken at both the Group and individual Trust level.

We held our most recent Group Board meeting on Tuesday 6 May 2025, which was open for members of the public to join virtually. The full Board meeting papers can be found on the Trust Board papers page on the website.

Patient story: The Board heard how colleagues working at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Lincoln County Hospital have worked to improve patient experience. Heather Baker, Advanced Clinical Care Practitioner and Rebecca Cook, ICU Sister, recognised the psychological and emotional impact receiving care in the ICU may have, as it can be a very traumatic time for patients and their families. They set up an ICU support group and have introduced patient diaries, patients were reporting that they were struggling with memory gaps after being sedated. The diaries, which have been in place in January 2024, are there to fill those gaps as healthcare professionals and family members can make notes about the recovery progress or any events that would matter to a patient, for example, football match results of their favourite team. The ICU support group for former patients has been running every three months since September 2023, taking place outside of a hospital setting so as to not trigger further trauma relating to attending a hospital again. John Wright and his wife Christine spoke about a time when John collapsed after a cardiac arrest and ended up in the ICU. They both attend the support group, which helped them normalise their experience and struggles, and talk to others who have been through similar circumstances.

Both improvement ideas were quite simple but had a great impact on the patient experience. These were initiatives born out of listening to patients’ feedback, and the team has plans to share their learning wider within the Group. The story can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI73EXN1r6o

Celebrating Group success – surface-guided radiotherapy

The radiotherapy service in Lincoln County Hospital treats around 2,000 patients a year and over 90% of them now receive surface glided (tattooless) radiotherapy. This precise technology provides a real-time view of patient alignment while they're undergoing cancer radiotherapy. Paula Brown, Radiotherapy Services Manager, highlighted the benefits of offering such treatment for patients undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer. For example, the technology saves time and resources by detecting swelling, which may affect how radiotherapy is delivered. The technology also benefits patients who receive pelvis treatment, helping to identify small rotations in the pelvis, which could affect the treatment. Another notable improvement is using open-face masks for patients receiving head and neck treatments. Open masks offer increased comfort for patients who may struggle with claustrophobia. The service can now offer simple treatment completely mask-free, and they're working to provide mask-free treatment for all head and neck patients in the future. The improvements that the team has introduced mean that more patients can be treated without needing a re-scan, they can offer more precise treatment, sparing healthy tissue and with fewer side effects. Set-up times have also been reduced, which means the team can see more patients in a day. The service and colleagues who were key to the development of improvements have been recognised regionally and nationally during the Radiography Awards 2024.

Good news stories:

  • The partnership between United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Lincolnshire ICB, Lincolnshire Elective Activity Coordination Hub and DMC Healthcare won Best Elective Care Recovery Initiative and Best Insourcing Initiative at the HSJ Independent Healthcare Provider and HSJ Partnerships Awards. The project aimed to reduce the dermatology waiting list following the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the overall patient experience. The awards recognise the tremendous achievement and show the close work between the Lincolnshire system and other partners.
  • We have been considering plans for the old buildings at the front of the Grantham hospital. To help develop these plans, the Trust ran a public engagement exercise from 17 February until 31 March 2025, which invited views and ideas from local residents to ensure that the plans benefit the local community. We will soon share a report on the outcome of this engagement exercise. Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond and attended events.
  • Following extensive work to make improvements for patients using urgent and emergency care services, we achieved the four-hour A&E performance of 78.2% in March, which means we are one of the most improved areas within the East Midlands and that our patients are waiting less time to be seen and treated. A 12% improvement has also been seen in ambulance handover times at our acute sites, despite a 20% increase in ambulance activity. This makes us the most improved organisation in the Midlands region and in the top 10 most improved in the country for this metric.
  • The 2025 Staff Awards across the Group are now open for nominations. The awards are an opportunity for the people of Lincolnshire to recognise the dedication and care shown by community and hospital staff working across the county. More information about categories and how to nominate is available online on our website.

National announcements – The change in NHS leadership and the appointment of Sir Jim Mackey as the CEO of NHS England has led to several significant national decisions which include abolishing NHSE and absorbing  it into the Department of Health and Social Care within two years, expecting Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to make a 50% reduction in their running costs and expecting provider trusts to reduce their corporate cost growth by 50% during quarter three and explore outsourcing some support services. This is understandably causing a level of anxiety for colleagues, and we are working with our staff side representatives and keeping them and our workforce briefed as we work through the implications of this locally.

NHS Staff Survey 2024 – In April, the results of the NHS Staff Survey were published. The survey collated the feedback from colleagues across the Group. Work is now underway at the Group, Trust and divisional levels to help understand the results and develop action plans. Following the publication, ULTH has been recognised by NHSE for the significant improvement across all seven elements of the People Promise and the themes of engagement and morale.

Patient Safety Incident Response Plan – We have developed a Group plan which outlines our approach to how we respond to patient safety incidents, understand how they happen and what contributed to them. It advocates compassionate engagement with those patients and families affected by safety incidents and fosters a culture that enables staff to highlight any safety concerns without the fear of repercussions. We have also set our local priorities relating to patient safety incident investigation, and these include: transfers of care, sepsis management, fluid management, speech and language therapy and transfer of medication.

Safer staffing – We have recorded reduced numbers of falls and pressure ulcers on wards for ULTH. A safer community nursing staffing tool has been implemented in LCHS. National benchmarking indicated a ‘junior skill mix’ in the community teams, so work is being undertaken to ensure an appropriate skill mix.

Group Strategy 2025-30 – The Board has approved the LCHG strategy for 2025-2030, which was co-produced with staff and partners. This strategy sets out the aims and objectives for LCHG over the next five years as we collectively work towards improving how we deliver services for our patients, improving the population health of the communities we serve, and making it easier for our staff to deliver the high-quality care they want to provide.

Finance: ULTH’s year-end financial position was a £18.3m deficit, £11.4m adverse to the planned deficit. LCHS’s year-end financial position was a £31k surplus, £66k favourable to the planned position.

During the year the ULTH Cost Improvement Programme (CIP) delivered savings of £40.5m, which is £0.4m favourable to the plan. LCHS CIP delivered savings of £7.4m, which is £0.4m ahead of plan.

Overall, we delivered our efficiency target with a significant reduction in agency spending across all areas (medical, dental and back office). Our procurement department has delivered reductions in our consumable costs that have contributed to our efficiency programme, whilst our Estates and Facilities team delivered significant savings in our support costs. However, there has been a reliance on non-recurrent savings to support our efficiency programme.  As we move into 2025/26, our focus has shifted to delivering recurrent and sustainable transformation savings.

The Group has also delivered the largest capital plan in recent years, utilising the full £93.3m budget envelope for 2024/25.

Thank you - Gail Shadlock, Non-Executive Director at LCHS, will come to the end of her term in June. Elaine Baylis, Group Chair, thanked Gail for her time and invaluable input to both LCHS and ULTH. Gail has served as a NED for six years and supported both community and acute hospitals. She always focused on what decisions made at the Board mean for patients and how they impact them and has been a passionate advocate for the residents of Lincolnshire. In recent years, she has used her expertise to support the Lincolnshire NHS Charity. On behalf of the Board, Elaine wished Gail all the best for the future.

 

If you have any feedback on the discussions at the Group board, please contact ulth.lchscommunications@nhs.net.

 

Kind regards
Elaine Baylis
Group Chair

Karen Dunderdale
Group Chief Executive