Health

A Spalding care home which had no manager in place for more than six months has been told it ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission. Southernwood House was the subject of an unannounced visit by inspectors in May of this year. The full report was published last week and shows that the home, on Matmore Gate, requires improvement in ...

A generous anonymous donor has stepped forward after a hospital run by the community hit unexpected costs in its new £660,000 expansion. Holbeach Hospital has unveiled its recent expansion nearly 30 years after volunteers saved it from closure. It is still community run thanks largely to donations, and opened a new wing with eight much-needed bedrooms to ease the waiting ...

Hospitals in Lincolnshire are taking part in Baby Loss Awareness Week to support parents and families. Volunteers have knitted or crocheted distinctive butterflies which are being used to remember a stillbirth, miscarriage or baby who died shortly after birth. Everyone who visits a hospital this week, until Monday, October 15, will be encouraged to take a butterfly from the chapel ...

South Holland is set to have more than 2,500 people living with dementia in the next 16 years. Lincolnshire County Council is working on a draft strategy for dementia and the report reveals the statistics. “Dementia profiles for Lincolnshire evidence that a number of risk factors are worse than at both national and regional levels,” the report says. Estimates put ...

South Holland adults (aged 18-65) do the least physical activity in the East Midlands it’s been claimed. Lincolnshire County Council’s commissioning plan for an Integrated Lifestyle Support Service states that nearly a third (31.9 per cent) of adults are considered “inactive”. The national average is 22.2 per cent. The figures are taken from the Public Health Outcomes Framework. The idea ...

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust has been rated as Outstanding. The trust provides a range of services, such as community hospitals, including Spalding’s Johnson, minor injury units, out of hours GP services and community nurses. It employs 1,987 staff and the recent inspection gave it an overall rating of outstanding. “We rated safe, effective and caring as good and ...

The consultation on GP services for those who were patients at the recently closed Pennygate Surgery has officially been launched. Services have been moved to the Johnson Hospital after last month’s retirement of Dr Azmeena Nathu. The move angered many patients concerned over how far they would have to go to see a doctor. It followed three consecutive reports by ...

The founder of local groups providing help for those struggling with mental health has vowed to continue running them despite having her NHS funding cut. Vanessa Browning (pictured) was effectively made redundant by the cost-cutting measures, but will keep hosting the Safe Places groups she’s helped set up for people with mental health issues. The 50-year-old says she can’t let ...

A hospital used by a number of patients in South Holland has been put into special measures for a second time in five years after being rated inadequate in a number of areas, including in safety. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn has been rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in its latest report published today (Thursday, ...

A Sutton Bridge boy who is recovering from brain cancer treatment will get a well-deserved holiday with funds raised by a country-spanning bike ride this Saturday. Family and friends of 11-year-old Riley Watts will set off from Wales in the early hours of Saturday morning and arrive back at Sutton Bridge on Saturday evening. The welcoming committee will be at ...

Fundraisers are helping the children’s department of a Norfolk hospital where a Holbeach teenager is being treated for a debilitating condition. Asher Denman (14) was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease two years ago and has never been in remission. There are some days he has to drag himself to school after little sleep, but his family say he doesn’t let the ...

An impromptu singalong of “For she’s a jolly good doctor” rang out at Pennygate Foundation at the surprise leaving party of Dr Azmeena Nathu last week. Head of the next-door Pennygate Surgery, Dr Nathu leaves the practice after 32 years’ service. Gifts and cards were left by patients and wellwishers at the gathering on Wednesday, September 5. On the day, ...

The latest report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) says the Pennygate Health Centre was offering caring and responsive services – though its rating remained inadequate. Inspectors returned to the surgery in June and the report was published on September 5. A previous report rated the surgery inadequate and the practice, now closed, was put into special measures. The most ...

Question and answer sessions are being held this week as patients prepare for the closure of Pennygate Surgery on Friday, September 7. South Lincolnshire Care Commission Group (CCG) is closing the practice after its general practitioner, Dr Azmeena Nathu, announced her retirement. Residents have called for the service to remain open after it was revealed Dr Nathu, who owns the ...

Patients at the soon to close Pennygate Surgery have called for it to remain open after it was claimed the retiring doctor had offered to hire it out to health officials rent free. However South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) has told The Voice it has not received a formal offer regarding renting the surgery and a 90-day consultation on ...

Women in South Holland could be waiting up to three months for results from their routine smear tests. There is up to a 12-week wait for the results which should take just a fortnight to come through. Women are invited to have the procedure every three or five years, depending on age, and a range of conditions, including cancer, can ...

Patients at the soon to close Pennygate Surgery have called for it to remain open after the retiring doctor offered to hire the building out rent free. Supporters of the surgery gathered at a packed and heated meeting on Monday to discuss South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioing Group’s (CCG) proposal to transfer all patients to the Johnson Hospital from September 7. ...

A teenager battling a rare disease that has left her in constant pain is planning for university ahead of tomorrow’s (Thursday) A Level results. Gaby Taylor (18), of Spalding, has been diagnosed with type two a-typical trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic pain disorder brought about by a faulty nerve. It means she has constant pain that includes daily attacks so strong it ...

A petition to keep Pennygate Surgery open has been launched ahead of Monday’s public meeting on its future (August 20). Last week The Voice reported that Dr Azmenna Nathu, who runs the surgery and owns the building, is to retire and the surgery will close September 7. It follows two poor Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports. Now Coun Angela Newton ...

A new NHS dentist is set to move into the former offices of the Spalding Voice. An application has been submitted to South Holland District Council by JDSP Dental for units 1 and 2, 14-16 Winsover Road. The applicant has been awarded a contract by NHS England Central Midlands to deliver NHS dental services. The contract includes a commitment to ...