Why we need to change

There is a widely publicised, national case for change regarding why the NHS across the country must improve and transform. Key national challenges are well known: recruiting and retaining staff; increased demand for services and patients living longer and with more complex conditions.

Within Lincolnshire, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) provides a wide range of acute hospital services to our population.

This consultation relates to four NHS services currently provided by ULHT. Some people in Lincolnshire receive their hospital care from NHS Trusts in a neighbouring area (eg. North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust).

The quality and long-term sustainability of services within ULHT is critical to Lincolnshire’s community. To support ULHT to address the national challenges and improve services we need to change the way they are currently delivered. This public consultation is focused on improving this quality of care, and retention and recruitment of staff, rather than on financial savings. If we improve these four NHS services, we believe there will be:

• Shorter waiting times for planned orthopaedic procedures in Lincolnshire
• Fewer cancellations of planned orthopaedic procedures in Lincolnshire
• Better urgent and emergency care for patients across Lincolnshire
• Clinically optimum hospital stays for recovering stroke patients
• Better hospital care for recovering stroke patients
• More integrated community and hospital medical services
• Quicker access to specialist staff across these four NHS services
• ​​​Reduced risk that Lincolnshire would lose these services if they become unsustainable
• Increased ability for the NHS in Lincolnshire to attract new staff to work in the county
• Better retention of staff already in the county, as they would be working for more sustainable and progressive services
• Reduced spend on temporary and locum staff to fill gaps in the rota, caused by too few permanent staff to fill them