It’s been an historic year for us at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, with big changes across our sites – so why not join us for our review of 2022?
From new departments, services and facilities to new and improved digital systems that help our teams provide better care, there’s been lots going on.
January:
We started the year as we meant to go on, with plenty of new projects kicking off, as well as work resuming in earnest on the existing schemes already underway.
The new programmes included the beginning of the work to transform Scunthorpe’s Ward 25 and installing new digital X Ray equipment into room 4 at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby.
Other highlights this month included:
- The arrival of the new MRI scanner at Scunthorpe which, once operational, would double our scanning capacity at the site
- Switching off the temporary boilers at Goole and letting our new boilers take the reigns
February:
We were loving the changes we could see on our sites as February rolled around, not least at Scunthorpe where, after months of preparatory works, the steel frame for the new ED started to go up.
We also welcomed our first patient to the new Scunthorpe MRI suite, who said he had been coming to the hospital since the 1980s and couldn’t praise our staff enough.
Elsewhere on the site, we continued to dig the exploratory boreholes for our proposed geothermal heating system – drilling our way through ground that last saw the light of day when the first dinosaurs evolved.
Of course, it wasn’t all happening in Scunthorpe. At Goole the new Combined Heat and Power system was up, running and enabling us to generate our own electricity and at Grimsby we were finally able to open the new decked car park to the public.
And that wasn’t the only good news, as NHS England and Improvement approved our Final Business Case for our planned Same Day Emergency Care and Acute Assessment Unit schemes.
March:
Things ramped up in March as we completed the demolition of the old modular CCU building in Grimsby.
And that wasn’t the only development at the site, as we also completed the second phase of work to install our new oxygen supply system, skilfully managing a complex programme of ward moves to allow the work to take place.
Meanwhile, the Digital Services team launched a huge piece of work to upgrade all trust computers to Microsoft 365.
It was celebration time for the Scunthorpe Catering Team, which was awarded a five-star rating following an Environmental Health inspection, and that wasn’t the only good news.
Chair Designate of the ICS Sue Symington came for a tour of Grimsby’s developing new Emergency Department, commenting “What a transformation!”, while over at Scunthorpe, the roof was starting to go on the new building.
April:
April brought a breath of fresh air, as the conversion of the old MRI room at Grimsby into a Lung Function room was completed.
And that wasn’t the only project that came to fruition. We also officially opened Grimsby’s first fully digital X Ray room, providing us with the ability to carry out low-radiation, instantaneous X Rays, which show the area being examined in real time.
Later in the month we took delivery of 50 new wheelchairs, which were split between Grimsby and Scunthorpe, before challenging our Facebook followers to a game of Where’s Wheely to hammer home the importance of returning wheelchairs to where they can be easily found by the next patient.
The Project Team then announced its plans for further improvements to our diagnostic facilities, this time in the form of a new Gamma Camera room at Grimsby.
We rounded off April with the arrival of the new oil tank for the Plate Heat Exchange system at Goole, where we also finished off installing more energy efficient lighting.
May:
There were some landmark moments in the construction of our new Emergency Departments this month.
At Grimsby, work started on the new permanent entrance and at Scunthorpe the windows started going into the new building.
It was also out with the old and in with the new, as the infrastructure for the old oxygen supply system at Grimsby was removed and testing of the new fire alarm system got underway.
And our work to upgrade all trust computers to Microsoft 365 was coming to an end, as all devices were switched over to the new system, keeping our networks secure.
June:
We started to get a feel for what the new Grimsby Emergency Department was going to look like, as the exterior finish started to emerge, while at Scunthorpe, it was all about the interior, as the partitions went up and the decorating got underway.
With the arrival of summer, more of us took to our bikes to get to work – and, with perfect timing, new cycle hoops were installed at DPoW for all those extra bikes.
July:
We were able to give our colleagues a first look at the newly refurbished Ward 25 at Scunthorpe, as we released the link to a virtual tour.
Meanwhile, the Security team joined forces with our colleagues at Humberside Police to offer free cycle security events at Scunthorpe and Grimsby.
August:
It was a landmark moment at Scunthorpe, as the memorial entrance stonework from the old Admin Block was put in place.
There was further excitement for the Grimsby Emergency Department teams as they started training on their new equipment and for children on Scunthorpe’s Disney Ward, as the Kier team dropped in with donations of sacks full of toys.
The next phase of the Grimsby oxygen system upgrade got underway too, with more ward and department decants to allow the work to take place.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, work started on refurbishing the HYMS buildings at both Grimsby and Scunthorpe too.
Meanwhile, the Digital Services team started to roll out Multi Factor Authentication to increase our cyber security for everyone working remotely.
September:
As September arrived, we started to share the video of Matron Natalie Till giving a grand tour of the new Grimsby Emergency Department and we announced that Scunthorpe would also be getting a full fire alarm upgrade.
October:
All those months of hard work finally paid off, as our new Grimsby Emergency Department got up and running, giving us the facilities needed to help us to give you our absolute best.
When the new department was unveiled on our social media and by our local news outlets, the general consensus was that it looked amazing.
But the building work was far from complete. As the first patients arrived, we turned our attention to starting work on converting our old A&E into a Same Day Emergency Care Unit.
Elsewhere, we started installing the new endoscopy chillers on the roof at Scunthorpe and we got cracking on the construction work for our new Gamma Camera facility at Grimsby.
We also got the great news that we’d been successful in bidding for funds to refurbish theatres 7 and 8 at Grimsby and theatre A at Scunthorpe.
And that wasn’t all.
The maternity teams also announced plans for a whole new electronic patient record system called Badger Net, which will eradicate the use of multiple forms and other paperwork, streamlining it into one online record.
November:
The big news in November was that the new look Ward 25 was open for business, providing our patients with 14 single en-suite rooms, as well as vastly improved staff facilities.
The work on our Emergency Departments was getting a good grounding on both sites – as the external works and Tarmacing progressed at Scunthorpe and the foundations for the link between the Emergency Department and the main building went down at Grimsby.
The new Emergency Department CT scanner was also moved into place to help flow through the department by improving our diagnostic capacity.
And, in the main building, the final phase of the Grimsby oxygen supply upgrade also got underway. This time there were no ward moves required, as the work was focused on the corridors.
At Scunthorpe, we began work on updating our fluoroscopy facilities, investing in new equipment, and giving the whole area a facelift.
And there was more progress on the cards from the Digital Services team, which was doing some vital upgrade work to our Storage Area Network (SAN) to help ensure we have quick and easy access to information and our data is kept safe.
The team also brought in the Relay UK system to help us to better connect with patients who are deaf or hard of hearing.
December:
Just like that, another year has passed us by – but there haven’t been any signs of work slowing down in the run up to the Christmas break.
At Grimsby, the link between the main building and the Emergency Department is taking shape and, over the coming weeks, we will see the walls and roof going in.
At Scunthorpe, new the Emergency Department building has been hooked up to the water mains and, in the main hospital, work on upgrading the Fluoroscopy facilities is progressing well.
This month we have also been able to announce our plans to improve our mortuary facilities at Grimsby and Scunthorpe.
There’s lots more to come in 2023 too but, for now, we would like to thank you for your continued patience and support, as we continue Building Our Future.
