Senior NHS leaders have been challenged to provide clear answers about the future of healthcare in North Lincolnshire - following major decisions affecting hospital services and the announcement that the two NHS trusts within Humber Health Partnership will separate.
The Chief Executive and Chair of Humber Health Partnership attended North Lincolnshire's Health and Wellbeing Board to discuss recent developments, changes to governance and plans to improve services.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of the Humber Acute Services Review, which has raised concerns about the future of services at Scunthorpe General Hospital, and the decision to separate the two NHS trusts after years of increasingly integrated management. Cllr Rob Waltham, leader, North Lincolnshire Council is chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board. He said: "Residents deserve confidence in their healthcare and the decisions being made about its future. Instead, we have seen major decisions to move services away from Scunthorpe, only for the NHS to announce it is now dismantling the very structure responsible for delivering them. "You cannot make decisions with such far-reaching consequences for patients, tear up the management structure and expect everyone to simply move on. The decisions remain, and so does the responsibility for them. “Doctors and nurses on the front-line in North Lincolnshire do an excellent job, often under challenging circumstances, The also need clarity on the future of the NHS locally "I want clear answers about why this is happening, what it means for the future of healthcare in North Lincolnshire and what patients will actually gain from yet another NHS reorganisation. "We will work with anyone serious about improving healthcare, but we will not accept another round of promises and plans without results. Patients deserve better than an NHS that appears more focused on reorganising itself than delivering the services people depend on."