Major hospitals' revamp outlined

Plans for a £19.5m investment in buildings and equipment at Lincolnshire hospitals have been announced.

Two years ago the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust axed hundreds of jobs in a wide-ranging review of services to tackle a £15m overspend.

But chief executive Gary Walker said the trust was now in a position to invest in hospital facilities.

He also said he wanted to secure the services at Grantham Hospital for the next five years.

Emergency surgery at the Grantham hospital was stopped in 2007 and maternity services have been threatened with closure.

'Financial trouble'

"My view is that Grantham has got a future," he said.

"What I want to do is be able to set that out for a five-year period, so people can see it's not just one year after the next."

The trust also plans to spend £1m at Boston's breast care unit and a further £1m extending A&E services.

Proposals would see two paediatric wards at Lincoln hospital combined and located near the maternity unit as well as a new CT scanner installed at Grantham.

Mr Walker said he was pleased the trust's fortunes had turned around but did say the trust planned to close its microbiology unit in Lincoln.

"A year ago we were in lots of financial trouble, long waiting times and bad news everywhere... but now we've just announced a plan for new buildings new equipment and improving a range of services.

"It may involve some temporary facilities because clearly you need to build something new to put them in before you can close anything in an other part of the building."