As people across North East Lincolnshire digest the news that their NHS Trust is now in special measures, bosses at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals explain what it all means as health reporter Katie Blackburn hears from the public.
"THOSE who have made this hospital what it is today should hang their heads in shame, I do wonder how they sleep at night. Resign now, no golden handshakes for the board either."
That's the opinion of a Grimsby Telegraph reader following Tuesday's damning Keogh Review report into services at Grimsby's Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital.
Following the report – which unveiled a catalogue at failures at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – it was placed into special measures and will be twinned with another NHS organisation to offer help and support.
Dr Liz Scott, medical director at the Trust, which runs Grimsby's Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital, said being in special measures meant more intense scrutiny to ensure 18 action points set out by the head of NHS England, Sir Bruce Keogh, will be met.
"As part of this we will be offered a lot of support by working closely with another NHS organisation, hopefully similar to our own which operates over lots of different sites and are small," she said.
"As yet we do not know which organisation we will be linking with."
As people across the borough digest the news, many have turned to www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk to express how they feel.
Some have called for Trust bosses to resign.
A comment from Xyz-123 said: "Those who have made this hospital what it is today should hang their heads in shame, I do wonder how they sleep at night. Resign now, no golden handshakes for the board either."
Gaz1966 said: "They should scrap all the directors and ward managers and stop this selfish gain attitude and employ people who WANT to NURSE and WANT to CARE.
H_Newton left an online comment which stated: "The Chief Executive and the Medical Director are quite clearly unable to manage their procedures and staff levels appropriately.
"They should both resign immediately."
In response to this, Dr Scott was asked if any of the management team would step down.
She said: "Absolutely not, all of us are committed to improving the Trust.
"The report has made uncomfortable reading, but actions have already been taking place before this review came out to improve things."
The action points include:
The Trust should minimise patient transfers. A move needs to be discussed with clinicians to agree the impact that it would have on clinical care.
Review medical cover out of hours and provide more senior cover to ensure safe standards.
The Trust needs to work with the Clinical Commissioning Group to urgently address the provision of stroke services out of hours.
Ensure that staffing levels and levels of training on wards are sufficient to provide appropriate levels of basic care to patients.
MEP Godfrey Bloom is glad that special measures are now in place for 11 trusts, including North Lincolnshire.
He said: "Confidence in the NHS has been very badly shaken by incidents including the Staffordshire Hospital scandal, and patients need to feel safe when they are at their most vulnerable.
"There must be urgent changes to ensure patient safety is, as it obviously should always be, the priority."
An online poll on www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk asking people if they think hospital services need to improve, showed 88 per cent thought it did, with 12 per cent saying it did not.
The full report can be read here.
