Covid-19: Grantham Hospital A&E services set to resume

17 March 2021

News image — Grantham's A&E department was downgraded in June 2020

BBC Grantham and District Hospital sign — Grantham's A&E department was downgraded in June 2020

An accident and emergency department which was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic is to reopen this summer.

United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust (ULHT) said the A&E service at Grantham Hospital, which were suspended last year, will resume by 30 June.

It will return to its pre-pandemic opening hours of 08:00 to 18:30.

Campaigners fighting for a 24-hour service have welcomed the decision but say they remain "concerned" by the ongoing overnight closure.

The A&E department, which had been operating a daytime-only service since 2016, was downgraded to an urgent care centre in June 2020 to allow Grantham Hospital to operate as a Covid-free "green" site.

On Tuesday, ULHT said it was reinstating the department as part of a wider restoration of services - such as outpatient, diagnostic and pharmacy services - beginning next month.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the trust's chief executive Andrew Morgan said: "We continue to monitor the situation, but with the falling number of cases in our community, the success of the vaccination programme and other evidence presented to the board, we agreed to follow the recommendations presented to us to restore services at our hospitals."

Reacting to the announcement, campaigner Ray Wooten said: "I still have concerns that services, particularly the A&E that we lost in August 2016, have still not returned.

"With a growing town and district we still need those services back in Grantham."

The initial decision to downgrade the A&E is the subject of a judicial review, with campaigners arguing the steps were taken without the public involvement required by law.