Partnership running hospital trusts to dissolve
BBCA partnership of two hospital trusts will be dissolved, health managers have said.
The Humber Health Partnership (HHP) brought together the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (HUTH) and the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG) in 2023.
An independent review was launched as part of an improvement plan after the partnership went into special measures in March. The review recommended HUTH and NLAG returned to two separate organisations.
HHP group chief executive Lyn Simpson told a meeting of the board "some things have worked well but overall the position has deteriorated".
Simpson later told the BBC: "I think we've got lots of successes that have been achieved. There's been some disgruntlement but that's been addressed through the decision we've taken today."
The 12-week review by consultants Carnall Farrar had looked at the organisation's structure, what was best for patients and research and leadership.
The review found that separate arrangements would provide a stronger basis for each organisation to focus on the needs of its population, its local partnerships and its improvement priorities.
HHP chairman Alan Downey said each trust would have its own chief executive and chairperson.
He said the separation would take time to complete and there would be an "ongoing need for collaboration and co-operation".
The review followed orders earlier this year from NHS England and the government that the partnership needed to improve.
An improvement plan had already been put in place prior to the government announcement, but there had been vocal dissatisfaction from doctors and politicians in North Lincolnshire, who were critical of the way the partnership and services were managed.
In August, more than three-quarters of the consultants at NLAG signed a letter of no confidence in Simpson and the executive leadership team at HHP.
NLAG governors passed a motion calling for the partnership to be broken up, followed by GPs in North Lincolnshire echoing the consultants' concerns.
The partnership was created after NHS bosses felt patients would benefit from the two trusts working closer together.
However, Dr Satpal Shekhawat, speaking on behalf of North Lincolnshire GPs, said the move had not always benefited their patients.
"The services were getting less efficient, the waiting times were getting longer, performance was going down, which was having a direct impact on us, looking after our patients," he said.
"The letters we get indicate you should see a local specialist and the frustration we have with the merger, for some Hull is the local speciality."
Councillor Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, complained to the government that services were being moved away from Scunthorpe, forcing patients to travel.
Welcoming the announcement, he said: "What we have got to see now is bringing back services into hospitals like Scunthorpe so that patients can access care local to home."
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