A&E consultant Dr David Garrick says cuts to emergency surgery, paediatrics, stroke care and gynaecology puts patients in danger as they often need to be transferred to other hospitals to receive proper medical care.

Cuts have meant the hospital can no longer deal with many patients, including victims of road traffic accidents and ectopic pregnancies.

Dr Garrick said: "Road traffic accidents would in the past have been dealt with locally .

"But basically the infrastructure and facilities have been removed. Now traffic accidents should not come here any more.

"Two years ago, if a patient came here and they were not fit to be transferred to Lincoln or somewhere else, the surgeons here would have dealt with it.

"But now they have to be transferred and their condition may vary."

If a patient comes into the hospital who can no longer be treated, staff are often forced to stabilise patients as best they can before transferring them to another hospital.

Dr Garrick said: "Because of costs and reorganisation, sometimes we have to do things which are unsafe.

"There are things which we used to do five or six years ago, which now we cannot do."

Dr Garrick was heavily involved in the modernising the A&E department in 1990s. He was very proud of the department, which he says was once seen as the leading A&E in the county.

He said: "The A&E department was developed up to a very high standard.
"But over the years we have lost specialties such as surgery and the infrastructure really has been affected.

"I think the department and the hospital has become less safe. The administrators won't accept it but the people who work on the ground know."

He added: "It worries me that in my mind I do not think the hospital is as safe as it was five years ago."

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. . . and more cuts may come
Dr Garrick believes there may be more cuts to services yet to come.

He said: "The future of this hospital is not as bright as people would like to think. I would not be surprised if it ended up as a minor injuries unit of some sort because they have taken everything now.

"They fail to realise this hospital is close to the A1 and the only town in Lincolnshire that mainline trains pass through is Grantham.

"It is also a growing area, with people coming here of child-bearing age, but people do not bear that in mind before they start taking these decisions."

'Hospital is safe' says United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust
THE Journal asked United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust to respond to Dr Garrick's criticism of cuts at Grantham Hospital.

Medical Director Dr David Boldy said: "As the medical director of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust I would like to reassure the public that A&E services at Grantham and District Hospital are safe. We are committed to providing high quality care to the community we serve and take issues of safety extremely seriously.

"On the grounds of patient safety, we temporarily stopped providing emergency general surgery at Grantham and District Hospital in February 2007.

"This decision was based on robust evidence and involved Mr Garrick's colleagues, including consultant surgeons.

"The decision became permanent following the 'Shaping Health' public consultation carried out by Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust.

"Arrangements have been in place for over a decade with the East Midlands Ambulance Service to treat and transfer seriously ill patients.

"These were modified following the changes to emergency surgery and this type of service provision is in place across the country. We continue to work closely with the Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust, clinicians, the public and hospital staff to ensure that the services we provide are safe, effective and appropriate to the needs of our community.

"Mr Garrick has recently retired after a long and successful career.

"His post will be covered by a locum but we are actively seeking to make a new appointment."

'I stayed on because I wanted to keep this department open'
DAVID Garrick paid tribute to staff at Grantham Hospital at his retirement party on Tuesday.

The A&E consultant has worked at Grantham Hospital for 15 years and was on call every day for 12 years until the appointment of another consultant, Dr Oduro.

Dr Garrick, 63, said: "I think I owe a lot to the staff here. People have been very, very helpful to me and that has helped me when I was single-handed.

"When you get good people around you it makes life a bit more simple for you."

Dr Garrick was born in Sierra Leone in West Africa in 1945. As well as visiting the former Soviet Union as a student, his career has also taken him to the Bahamas and the United States before he settled in Grantham.

He had planned to retire a few years ago but wanted to stay in order to help keep essential services in Grantham.

He said: "I think I should have retired a long time ago. I planned to retire a long time ago but I wanted to try to keep this department open so I stayed."

In retiring, Dr Garrick paid tribute to the staff he has worked with over the years.

He said: "My work here has been enhanced by the people around me, which I am very grateful for. The doctors, the nurses, the paramedics and ambulance people, the police, the people in the labs and the pharmacy have all been so helpful. I think we have the best team we could have because we work so closely together."

Dr Garrick was presented with flowers and a caricature drawn by the Journal's own Terry Shelbourne.