A proposal to keep A&E at Grantham but cut it down to a 16-hour service could go to public consultation in May.
A meeting of the county’s health professionals and managers met on Wednesday to discuss proposals for the future of healthcare in the county. One of the areas discussed was urgent care and the future of Grantham A&E.
Under the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), a blueprint for the shape of healthcare over the next five years, it has been proposed that an urgent care centre replace the town’s A&E.
But it is believed the option of retaining an A&E for 16 hours a day with a nurse-led unit for the rest of the day is being considered. Ben Bradley, who is standing in for Grantham MP Nick Boles while he undergoes cancer treatment, was at the meeting. Mr Bradley said: “It’s a step in the right direction because the option of an urgent care centre seems to have gone out of the window. With an urgent care centre, half the patients who go to Grantham would then be sent to Lincoln, which is not achievable.”