Issues
There has been alot of talk in the medical profession about
the Golden hour. This is the critical time from the moment the accident
occurs to getting to the A&E.
Lets do some maths...
8 - 19 minutes.
The East Midlands Ambulance Service try to get to the scene of an
accident in 8 minutes (75% of the time) and 19 minutes (25% of the
time).
40 minutes. The minimum time to
any A&E outside of Grantham is approximately 40 minutes. At a busy
time of day this will be much, much higher.
?? minutes. Assessment and initial
treatment BEFORE the journey
to the hospital
You can only conclude that the majority of people
who require A&E treatment will need more than 1 hour to get to
hospital. We are not talking about a few people, the numbers involved
could easily be over 100,000 people.
Problems
with Lincolnshire's roads
Many roads in Lincolnshire are small, unlit and not designed for fast
travel. There is also a lack of dual carriageways and areas where overtaking
can take place. A good example is the A52 to Boston. Due to the high
volume of lorries carrying Lincolnshires produce (companies such as
Geest have major factories across the county), the high volume of farm
traffic and high car traffic volumes it is obvious the above times
are extremely generous for many times of day and periods of the year.
Those who have tried Boston during rush hour know its not practical
to consider this journey as a realistic option.
Extreme weather
Another factor that seems to have been overlooked is the weather.
In Extreme weather conditions getting to Grantham hospital can prove
a problem let alone having to travel 30 miles across the county.
This may only be relevant for a few weeks a year, but still something
which has not been considered.
Conclusion
It will be very interesting to see how the trust can justify closing
A&E for any period of the day. Scaling down the service will result
in death to an untold number of people, is this something they
are willing to risk?
Are they willing for people in Grantham and surrounding areas to
die so that Lincoln and Boston can thrive?
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