| Welcome to our consultation newsletter | Welcome to our consultation bulletin. Here you'll find the latest news and updates about the consultation, where we have been and how you can get involved.
Find out more and have your say on our Better Hospitals Humber website. | | | Upcoming Engagement – ways to get involved |
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| Young people using their voice – Free Drama Workshop | We are committed to ensuring that young people have an opportunity to have their say during this consultation. So, if you have young people between the ages of 8-14 in your household, or groups you work with, please make sure they know about this exciting event designed to allow young people to express themselves about the things in the NHS that affect them.
To do this, we are holding another free drama workshop for children and young people in Scunthorpe working with a very experienced drama company called Playing ON. They use games, storytelling and improvisation to explore children’s and young people’s views in a fun and engaging way.
The workshop is open to all children and young people aged 8 to 14 and will be taking place on:
- 15th November 2023, 6-7.30pm
- Pizza and a drink will be provided from 5.30pm for those taking part.
There will be a room for parents/carers to wait for their children, and to discuss the proposal with the team if they wish to do so. Places are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please share the link below with anyone you think may be interested.
To book a place at the workshop, click here. | |  |
| Our community roadshow continues – drop-in sessions taking place over the coming weeks | Over the next couple of weeks, we will be available at various community locations around the region – we are adding more venues each week and will share these in future newsletters and on our social media channels.
Come along and tell us what you think this November.
This week, you will find us at our main hospital sites – we will be in the canteen area over lunch each day and visiting outpatient areas throughout the day:
- Monday 6th November – Scunthorpe General Hospital
- Wednesday 8th November – Goole and District Hospital
- Thursday 9th November – Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby.
Later in the month, we will be hosting drop-ins at a number of community locations, including:
- Friday 17th November – Parent Carer Conference in North Lincolnshire, listening to parents, carers and professionals
- Monday 20th November (11am-1pm) – Immingham Civic Centre Hub
- Wednesday 22nd November (10am-12noon) – Centre4 in Grimsby.
Pop in and see us if you can. You will be very welcome.
We are also planning three further exhibition events for those who couldn’t make it along to our events in October. These are planned for Gainsborough and Scunthorpe.
Please keep an eye open for details on our website www.betterhospitalshumber.nhs.uk, social media and our newsletter. | |
| Won’t the proposed changes undermine the long-term viability of Scunthorpe General Hospital? | These changes mean the services at Scunthorpe General Hospital – both the Emergency Department and other services – remain fit for the future.
If the changes we are proposing are implemented, it will provide the opportunity to address our workforce challenges, while enabling most people to be cared for at the same hospitals as they are now.
24/7 Emergency Departments (A&Es) will continue to be provided at both Scunthorpe and Grimsby hospitals, with trained Emergency Department teams available around the clock. This means there would be the skills and expertise available to safely assess and stabilise patients at Scunthorpe Hospital, even if they subsequently needed to be moved elsewhere for ongoing treatment.
We have recently invested £35 million to build new Emergency Departments and Assessment Units in both hospitals and the proposal has been designed to maximise the benefit of those investments.
In addition, there are services for which Scunthorpe General Hospital is the specialist centre. For example, Scunthorpe provides the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) for all of Northern Lincolnshire, where patients are taken for immediate treatment following the onset of a stroke. This would remain at Scunthorpe in the proposal that is being put forward. | |
| Why is there only one option – surely this means the decision has already been taken? | The option that’s proposed is the only one – out of more than a hundred that were considered – that we think can meet staffing pressures and deliver key national standards, whilst having the least impact on patients. Other potential solutions were looked at but were ruled out because, either:
- They could not be delivered safely
- They would not address the workforce challenges
- They had a very significant impact on patient travel time for a large number of patients
- They could not be delivered due to building issues and limitations of existing hospital sites.
The proposals we are consulting on have been supported by the Clinical Senate, a group of independent senior clinicians who don’t work in our area. The Clinical Senate confirmed the model will provide better, more sustainable services for our population. Legally, we are not allowed to put forward options for consultation that are not viable or realistic.
Even where a single option consultation is proposed, it would be wrong to approach the process with a closed mind. It is quite possible that during consultation, feedback might be received which will change the proposal or how it is implemented. Any changes made following consultation will be carefully planned and be implemented over a period of time.
We are therefore focused on ensuring everyone has an opportunity to have their say, and that we listen carefully to the consultation responses. | |
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