Grantham Hospital: Trust failed in its legal duty to consult

A hospital trust acted "unlawfully" by failing to consult over plans to downgrade an A&E, a judge has ruled.

Grantham Hospital's A&E was downgraded to an urgent care centre in June 2020 to allow the site to operate as a Covid-free "green" site.

A judicial review found United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT) failed in its legal duty to consult over the changes.

The trust said it accepted the findings and has apologised.

Plans to replace the A&E department in Grantham with an urgent care centre were first revealed on 8 June, and approved three days later.

The trust said the change, which came in to force on 22 June, meant Grantham could become a Covid-free site, allowing it to restart elective surgery and cancer treatments.

But at a judicial review hearing it was argued the failure to consult was a breach of legislation.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Linden said: "This is a case of wholesale failure to comply with the obligation to secure service user involvement in the development and consideration of the green-site proposal.

"The present case also illustrates how failure to involve service users in decision making will foster a sense of injustice or, worse still, undermine confidence in the good faith of the decision maker," he said.

The findings also stated the trust had failed to consult because it feared the decision might prove controversial.

Andrew Morgan, the trust's chief executive, said: "We apologise to anyone who would have liked to have been more involved in the development of our plans.

"We will reflect on the judge's ruling and amend and improve our public involvement processes for the future," he said.

At an extraordinary board meeting of ULHT in March it was decided a partial A&E service would reopen at Grantham Hospital by the end of June.

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