Welcome to our Engagement Hub

We Asked

What the potential impacts would be on women and birthing people from Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Goole areas if maternity and neonatal services at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby and Scunthorpe General Hospital were provided differently in the future. 

Throughout February – July 2023 we visited children’s centres and antenatal clinics to speak with new and expectant families and spoke with 44 new and expectant parents.

You Said

When asked where they were planning on giving birth, 85% of respondents (17) said they were planning to give birth at the hospital closest to their home address (Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby or Scunthorpe General Hospital).

Overall, women from North Lincolnshire and Goole said that they would prefer to give birth at Scunthorpe General Hospital and women from North East Lincolnshire said they would prefer to give birth at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby.

3 women said they would prefer to give birth at home

We then asked what the impacts would be to people and their families if they were for any reason unable to give birth at Scunthorpe General Hospital or Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby in the future.

Below are the key themes from the feedback we received:

• Increased travel 
• Caring responsibilities
• Choice
• Safety/experience

We Did

The feedback we have gathered throughout our engagement with women and birthing people will be used to update the Programme’s Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) and help decision-makers see how different options could affect different groups of people and communities.

Along with our Pre-Consultation Business Case (PCBC) the IIA will form part of the final assurance that we need to go to formal public consultation.

We Asked

We asked staff, patients or service users, carers, family members or friends of a patient:

• how they travelled to hospital/work
• what they found difficult when travelling to hospital/work
• what could be done to make travelling to hospital/work easier.

You Said

Members of staff, patients, service users, carers, family members and friends told us:

• Most respondents (staff and patients/loved ones) travel to hospital in their own personal car. 
• Availability of parking and the cost of parking were consistently the two biggest difficulties people from both groups faced when travelling to hospital (including for work).
• Poor public transport links, unreliable services and the cost of public transport also make travelling to hospital difficult for the majority of respondents from both groups.  
• Increasing the availability of staff and patient parking spaces and reducing the cost of parking at hospital sites would make it easier for both groups to get to hospital.
• Improving public transport services and connectivity between sites, including hospitals on the north bank would make travelling to appointments easier for patients and travelling to work easier for staff. 
• Improving non-emergency transport services and increasing disabled parking provision would make travelling to hospital easier for people with disabilities, older people and those who are unable to drive. 

We Did

We used these findings to update the Transport Action Plan being developed to support the Humber Acute Services programme. 

This action plan will continue to be developed over the coming months as proposals for changes to hospital services continue to be discussed and developed. 

We Asked

What the potential impacts would be on women and birthing people from Lincolnshire if maternity and neonatal services at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby and Scunthorpe General Hospital were provided differently in the future. 

Between October-December 2022, we visited Children's Centres and antenatal clinics in Mablethorpe, Binbrook, Louth and Skegness and engaged with 33 new and expectant parents.

You Said

45.5% of the people we spoke to had used maternity services at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby within the last two years to give birth, or were planning on using maternity services there in the near future. The remaining 54.5% who had not used maternity services in Grimsby had mainly birthed at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, and all lived in Skegness. 

'A Good Reputation, 'Closest to where I live' and 'Private Rooms' were the main reasons people gave for Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby being their preferred location to give birth at in the future. 

On average, the people we engaged with rated their experience of accessing hospital services at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby as 8 out of 10,with the majority saying they would 'Certainly' choose to birth at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby again if they were to have another child. 

We then asked what the impacts would be to people and their families if they were for any reason unable to give birth at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby in the future. Below are the key themes from the feedback we received:

• Increased travel - “All the other alternatives would be too far to travel”
• Choice been taken away - “I wouldn’t know where else to go”
• Concerns around safety - “In an emergency, the extra travel could have poor outcomes”
• Feeling they have to give birth at home - “Would have no choice but to give birth at home, but wouldn’t feel comfortable giving birth without medical help on hand”
• Caring responsibilities - “I would struggle to get childcare for my other children after I’ve given birth”

We Did

The feedback we have gathered throughout our engagement with women and birthing people across Lincolnshire will be used to update the Programme’s Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) and help decision-makers see how different options could affect different groups of people and communities.

Along with our Pre-Consultation Business Case (PCBC) the IIA will form part of the final assurance that we need to go to formal public consultation next year.

We Asked

The Humber Acute Services Programme is about designing the future of hospital services, that are safe, sustainable and meet the needs of the local population. 

Clinical teams worked together to come up with different ideas about how services could work better together in the future. These dates were developed into potential models of care. 

We held a series of workshops to gather feedback on the different ideas from a wide range of stakeholders. 

Step 1 – Advantages and Disadvantages 
The first step of the evaluation process involved a series of workshops with 117 attendees, including clinical teams and wider stakeholders to review the high-level models of care for:
• Urgent and Emergency Care
• Maternity, Neonatal Care and Paediatrics
• Planned Care

The workshops identified key advantages and disadvantages of each of the potential models of care across the three workstreams. As a result of the feedback, some models / variations were not taken forward into the next stage of evaluation and some previously discounted models were reconsidered for further evaluation.

Step 2 – Small Multiples / Balanced Room Approach
Between January and March 2022, Step 2 of the evaluation process considered a range of potential future models of care for urgent and emergency care, maternity, neonatal and paediatrics.

To ensure a robust and consistent process was followed, all possible combinations of the models set out in the pre-consultation business case for urgent and emergency care and maternity, neonatal care and paediatrics were combined and taken through step 2 of the evaluation process (unless there was a clear rationale from step 1 to discount the model/variation). This included reviewing some previously discounted ideas.

A balanced room approach was adopted, and 130 stakeholders attended a series of workshops including clinical teams, other professionals, partners, patient representatives and other lay members.

Attendees used the evaluation framework and questions to evaluate and score all the models, potential variations and site options using small multiples to provide a judgement on how well each model/variation met the different questions posed within each criteria. 

You Said

Step 1 – identified the advantages and disadvantages of each of the high-level models. Each model had different strengths and weaknesses. Some key areas of feedback include: 

• All models improves the ability to meet clinical standards through consolidation of specialty teams.
• All models have the potential to improve performance on waiting times
• Secondary transfers lead to poor patient experience, particularly for frail or elderly patients
• Operating a time-limited Paediatric Assessment Unit increases transfers required for short-stay patients

Step 2 - also identified a wide range of different strengths and weaknesses of different potential models of care. Some key areas of feedback include:

• There was a high degree of variation between the views of participants in relation to almost all questions. 
• Differentiation between the models was limited.
• Overall, stakeholders gave a high score to the idea of creating a central site for all acute care. 

For the full findings, please click here to read the Evaluation Feedback Report 

We Did

The findings and outputs from this work will form part of the programme’s Pre-Consultation Business Case (PCBC), which will set out the options we would like to consult with the public on, and that we believe represent the best potential solutions to the challenges faced across the Humber and will provide the best outcomes for our population.

For more information on the Humber Acute Services Programme, please click here to visit our website. 

We Asked

We wanted to ensure the voices of children and young people were heard as we plan for how paediatric care could be delivered in the future.

Earlier in the year we undertook an extensive engagement activity called What Matters to You however, participation from children and young people was low. 

To ensure that the voices of children and young people were heard, from November 2021 to January 2022 we launched a targeted engagement exercise with children and young people across the Humber to hear what they like and don't like about coming into hospital. 

This is also included listening to parents, carers and guardians experiences of accessing paediatric services.

63 responses were received from children and young people aged between 2-18 years old. 

You Said

Feeling cared for and safe was most important to you
The children and young people taking part in the engagement were provided with six simplified statements and asked to pick their top three in order of importance. Feeling cared for and safe came out top. This is consistent with what parents, carers and guardians said was most important, however different to our other What Matters to You engagement where I am seen and treated as quickly as possible was ranked as the most important. 

You also said it was very important that:
- you don't have to wait too long
- there are enough doctors and nurses
- the building is nice and has everything you need

Children and young people ranked the building is nice and has everything I need (Estates and Infrastructure) comparatively higher than all the other (adult) stakeholder groups we engaged with, where it was consistently ranked eighth out of nine. This suggests that buildings and the equipment inside of them are more important to children and young people than adult stakeholder groups. 

What's good about coming into hospital
Using a variety of different methods including drawings, lists, stories or poems. Young people taking part in the engagement were encouraged to tell us what the best thing about coming into hospital was.

• Getting better, having a good experience (e.g. a comfy bed, having numbing cream put on so it doesn't hurt.), no longer being in pain and the play specialists
• Being able to watch lots of films, read books and play with toys
• Friendly, smiling nurses and doctors who work hard to make me feel better, comfortable and safe
• Quick diagnosis and clean environment 

What's rubbish about coming into hospital
Using the same methods described above, young people were then asked to tell us what the worst thing about coming into hospital was. 

• Being told different things by different doctors/nurses is really confusing - better communication is needed. 
• Being kept in the dark - Clear information is needed which is presented in an understandable way about what is going to happen.
• It can get boring - and better access to toys and digital technology, such as gaming devices, Netflix and Wi-Fi is needed. 
• Long waiting times, being away from home and not being able to interact with nature (e.g. not being able to see the trees from your hospital bed)
• Having procedures done, (e.g. blood tests, injections and having the "areoplane" (cannula) taken out.)

If you were poorly and had 3 magic wishes to make you feel better you would wish for...

Wish 1 - Nice food and drink - e.g. chocolate and ice cream
Wish 2 - Home comforts - e.g. your own bed and cuddles
Wish 3 - Tech and toys - e.g. being able to watch a film or play with toys

To read the full feedback report and executive summary, please click the document links below. 

We Did

Next, we will:
Use the feedback to inform our evaluation of potential clinical models for paediatric services

Continue to provide opportunities for children and young people to share their thoughts and ask questions relating to the Humber Acute Services Programme

Reflect and learn from this engagement, and use that learning to inform our engagement approach to formal public consultation, ensuring we are able to talk to more children and young people, their parents, carers and guardians.