Louth and Skegness Urgent Treatment Centres: share your views about the continued changes to overnight opening hours

Views are being sought about temporary changes introduced to overnight opening hours at Louth and Skegness’s Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs) in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since March 23, 2020, the two UTCs run by Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) have been temporarily closed overnight between 10pm and 8am.

The temporary changes were introduced to support the trust to better manage the demand for local health services in light of the emerging global pandemic.

These temporary overnight closure arrangements are due to remain in place until March 2021 to support the continued response and likely extra demands of the winter season.

Tracy Pilcher, deputy chief executive and director of nursing, allied health professionals and operations at LCHS, said: “The arrival of coronavirus presented a huge challenge to make sure LCHS could meet rising demand for our services.

“By temporarily closing our services overnight at Louth and Skegness Urgent Treatment Centres, we have been able to transfer our staff to more effectively meet the needs of local residents by boosting our community nursing teams, providing additional support on our inpatient wards and at Boston Urgent Treatment Centre where services remain available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We are now asking for patient and public views on this temporary change at Louth and Skegness to help us to better understand what impact this is having on the local community. This will help to inform our ongoing and future planning for these services.”

Patients in need of medical help between 10pm and 8am can still access local services, including telephone and video consultations and home visits, via the NHS 111 service over the phone, online by using the app.

To take part in the online survey, please visit:

https://lincolnshirecommunityhealthservices.nhs.uk/louth-and-skegness-survey