Health and care services in Lincolnshire are changing

Residents interested in sharing their views on future plans for health and care services in Lincolnshire are encouraged to attend one of nine events taking place across the county throughout July.

The events will be an opportunity to discuss a range of topics with senior health and care leaders, that will feed into plans to transform and improve services to meet the needs of current residents and future generations.

John Turner, Senior Responsible Officer for the Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) said: “We are continuing to develop our planning for the future of all health and care services in Lincolnshire, including our hospitals, and would like to hear people’s views on what matters most to them. These events will build on previous feedback gathered over recent years from health and care staff, patients, carers, local partners, and the public.

“Feedback gathered so far has already helped shape services, including piloting a clinical assessment service in care homes that has reduced the number of emergency hospital admissions, a new system-wide frailty pathway that has received national recognition, and funding secured to recruit clinical pharmacists within GP practices across the county.

“However, there are a number of challenges within Lincolnshire that we need to address over the next few years, including high rates of cancelled operations, increasing cancer diagnosis rates, and the fact that the number of people aged over 75 living with multiple long term health conditions is set to double in the next 20 years.

“We hope these events will inform people as to where we currently are with our programmes of work and how their feedback will help us to shape our options for future health and care services in Lincolnshire, with any options that propose substantial service change requiring formal public consultation.”

The events will also give attendees the chance to hear about progress on the Lincolnshire STP, a partnership of health and care organisations across the county working to deliver a single plan to ensure the people of Lincolnshire have access to high performing, sustainable health and care services. The plan was submitted to NHS England in October 2016, and the agreed plan was published in December 2016 and has been publicly available since. It is available to download via www.lincolnshire.nhs.uk with paper copies available on request.

John Turner added: “The plan is progressing on a daily basis with a number of projects already being implemented by a dedicated team that come from across Lincolnshire’s health and care system, all working as one team. These projects are already delivering improved patient safety and financial sustainability.

“The plan will never be complete. As our environment continues to change, so will our response. We continue to develop our plans in line with public and staff feedback and our changing environment. This is an on-going piece of work.”

The two-hour events will be held at nine locations across the county, across a mixture of mornings, afternoons and evenings. As well as small focus group discussions, attendees will have the opportunity to walk round the venue, read display materials covering recent case studies, as well as information on how they can continue to be involved with shaping health and care services locally.

Details of the events are as follows:

• 12-Jul-18 09.30 – 11.30 Admiral Rodney Hotel, North St, Horncastle LN9 5DX
• 12-Jul-18 18.30 – 20.30 Robert Hardy Building, Bishop Grosseteste University, Longdales Rd, Lincoln LN1 3DY
• 16-Jul-18 14.00 – 16.00 New Life Centre, Mareham Lane, Sleaford, NG34 7JP
• 17-Jul-18 09.30 – 11.30 Woodlands Hotel, 80 Pinchbeck Road, Spalding PE11 1QF
• 17-Jul-18 14.00 – 16.00 The Storehouse, North Parade, Skegness, PE25 1BY
• 19-Jul-18 18.30 – 20.30 Boston West Golf Course, Hubbert’s Bridge, Boston PE20 3QX
• 20-Jul-18 09.30 – 11.30 Louth Town Hall, Louth, LN11 9NH
• 23-Jul-18 18.30 – 20.30 Jubilee Life Church, London Road, Grantham
• 24-Jul-18 09.30 – 11.30 Trentside Main Hall, John Coupland Hospital, 292 Ropery Rd, Gainsborough DN21 2NT

Anyone interested in attending an event should visit http://lincs-stp.eventbrite.com or call 01522 307315 for more details and to register.