NHS trust may shut emergency department at night because of staffing “crisis”

An NHS hospital trust is considering closing its emergency department at night owing to a chronic shortage of staff.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) said that it had reached “crisis point” and warned that patient safety could be at risk if it did not take drastic action at Grantham and District Hospital.

The trust, which runs three emergency departments in Lincolnshire, said that it had been “seriously affected” by a national shortage of emergency medicine doctors and did not have enough medical staff to fill shifts in three departments 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

After considering its options the trust said that it may close Grantham’s emergency department at night, as the hospital had …