16th May 2007

In response to an email sent to Quentin Davies regarding the consultation period he very kindly responded with the following text :

Only a few months ago there seemed little hope for Grantham Hospital. The PCT and United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust were both committed to its downgrading. At a meeting the editor of the Grantham Journal and I had with the Chairman and executives of ULHT last September, the Chief Operating Officer of the Trust actually blurted out that there could be no going back on the (disastrous)proposal agreed by the Trust board in May 2006.

In fact, I had already persuaded the Government to do that at my meeting with Patricia Hewitt in July 2006. She asked me to try to agree new proposals with the PCT and the Hospital Trust. The remarkable turnout at the September demonstration in Wyndham Park provided the backdrop - and in retrospect a decisive backdrop - to these discussions. The absolutely essential requirements for me, on behalf of my constituents, were always the preservation of consultant-led A&E, of our medical consultants, of elective surgery (general, orthopaedic and opthalmic) and, as an essential back-up for all these, of critical care and 24/7 consultant-led anaesthesia.

All of these have now been preserved. I am assured that there will be no - repeat no - reduction in these capabilities, or in their range of clinical competence (except for some clinician - driven new protocols, for example on stroke patients. I cannot argue with clinical decisions like that if they are genuinely clinically driven).

You may describe this outcome as a victory if you wish. It is certainly the most stupendous relief to me - and a complete turnaround from what we were otherwise headed for. In addition, there is the very important positive commitment on much more day surgery.

In midwifery, I think we have not merely a good, but in fact a quite exceptionally good unit in Grantham Hospital. I am absolutely committed to do everything possible to preserve it. I shall be visiting it again very soon. But of course it needs to be used more - two deliveries a
week (average) really does not make sense. Every other unit of Grantham Hospital has enjoyed striking and sustained increases in patient demand. I hope you agree with me that we need to ensure the same increase for Grantham's maternity unit. Ultimately of course, the decision on where to give birth must and will be made by patients and their GPs. The MP can only try to prevent facilities being closed in the face of genuine patient demand.

8th February 2007

In response to the news that Emergency General Surgery will be 'suspended' Mr Davies said...

This is appalling news. It means simply that emergency surgery cases will have to be transported an extra hour away by ambulance - and there may on occasion be no bed or operating theatre available for these patients immediately they arrive in Lincoln. Undoubtedly there will be deaths that would now be avoided.

By making this announcement now the Trust have clearly pre-empted their own inquiry into the future of Grantham Hospital. No doubt they are planning to conclude that other vital activities (consultant-led A & E? elective surgery?) can no longer be maintained in Grantham because they would be "clinically unsafe" without the back-up of emergency surgery.

Am I being over-alarmist or merely cynical? I fear not. That is exactly what has happened before. The Trust removed level 3 critical care in 2005, promising that this would not impact on the viability of other services and rejecting my own warnings at the time that it would indeed undermine other critical services. Now they are using the removal of level 3 critical care to justify the withdrawal of emergency surgery.

So much for all the promises we have received. So much for the objectivity and integrity of the "inquiry" the Trust is now undertaking. So much for the safety and interests - not merely the comfort, but in some critical instances, the lives of Grantham patients. Of course I will be doing everything possible to fight this and I will be making an announcement within the next few days."

1st October 2006

Mr Davies told savegranthamhospital.com :

"It is good news that the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust are now saying that the plan they put forward for the future of Grantham Hospital in June is no longer their official policy. But we should not rejoice too soon.

There is great bureaucratic momentum behind the project of building up Lincoln County Hospital at Grantham's expense and I am sure there are many people determined to bring back that pernicious plan in a new guise, with only cosmetic changes.

WE MUST AT ALL COSTS STOP THAT FROM HAPPENING.

We must ensure that everyone involved continues to focus on the vital issues - the cost in lives - if Grantham's consultant- led A & E Department closes, and the interdependence of A & E, acute surgery and critical care.

As I promised at the rally, I am continuing to press all concerned, and to ensure that all avenues are explored. Together with representatives of the Grantham Hospital consultants and of Grantham GPs, I have held our first meetings with the Peterborough and the Nottingham Hospital Trusts and these conversations are continuing".