The mayor of Greater Lincolnshire says she will fight a proposal to merge the county’s health services with Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
A statement put out by her office claims that the Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which oversees primary healthcare would be merged with the boards from those counties.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns says she’s written to the secretary of state for health and social care, Wes Streeting, saying the Lincolnshire ICB should instead merge with the Humber and Yorkshire ICB, part of which’s area covers her area.
In her letter, Dame Jenkyns, said: “Whilst I recognise that the country needs to things more efficiently, I am deeply concerned about the proposals to merge the Lincolnshire ICB with Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB, and the Derby and Derbyshire ICB, who would then cover a population of 3.2 million people spread over more than 4,500 square miles of the country.”
Nationwide, proposals for ICBs across England aim to cut costs by 50 per cent.
She said in a statement: “Greater Lincolnshire is a large geographical area, with dispersed populations.
“The combined county authority aims to drive economic growth for the region, and integral to that will be high quality health services.
“Our residents deserve services that are tailored to their needs – particularly those in rural and coastal communities, and I don’t feel the proposals offer this.
“A Greater Lincolnshire ICB would be consistent and aligned with other public services whilst still enabling cost savings.”
