The Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire met on Wednesday, 25 February 2026, to discuss a range of important health-related issues. Key topics included an update on Lincolnshire's emergency preparedness, progress on the Director of Public Health's annual reports, and arrangements for Quality Accounts. The committee also reviewed its work programme.

Lincolnshire Health Emergency Preparedness

The committee received a report on the assurance for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPPR) for NHS organisations in Lincolnshire for 2025. The Lincolnshire NHS system achieved substantial compliance against the NHS Core Standards for EPPR, demonstrating significant improvements. This was noted despite ongoing challenges such as concurrent responses to business continuity, industrial action, and multi-agency incidents. The report highlighted good practice in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) and Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) readiness, with full system compliance maintained. Improvements were also observed in infectious diseases and new and emerging pandemics, resulting in full system compliance. However, the NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) saw its compliance level drop from 'Full' to 'Substantial'. The committee was also informed of various incidents declared by NHS organisations, including 24 business continuity incidents, and coordinated responses to a complex infectious disease outbreak, temporary displaced persons, amber heat health warnings, industrial action, supply chain disruption, multi-agency responses, evacuations, and flood warnings/cold health alerts. The committee noted the top three risks on the Lincolnshire Health Resilience Partnership (LHRP) risk register remain unchanged: Pandemic, Cyber Incidents, and Malicious Attacks.

Director of Public Health 2024 Annual Report - Update on Recommendations

An update was provided on the progress made in implementing the recommendations from the 2024 Director of Public Health Annual Report, titled Integrated Care Close to Home: Creating Healthy Communities in Lincolnshire. The report highlighted strong, coordinated progress driven by three interconnected pillars: Community Primary Partnerships (CPPs), the Neighbourhood Health Work Programme, and the system-wide expansion of Technology Enabled Care (TEC). CPPs have served as initial test-beds for integrated, community-led care models, fostering collaboration across primary care, community services, mental health, social care, and the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector. This learning is now being scaled through Neighbourhood Health Plans, which aim to bring multidisciplinary teams together for proactive, preventive, person-centred care. Lincolnshire's TEC-first approach is enhancing prevention and independence through digital and assistive technologies, with public-facing resources like the Connect to Support Technology House and Online Self-Assessment empowering residents. The move towards Enhanced TEC Services, due for executive consideration in early 2026, signifies a transition from pilots to a fully commissioned offer. The report indicated that progress on the DPH recommendations is strong, with CPPs forming the foundation for Neighbourhood Health Plans, embedding community-led, personalised care and tailoring support to local needs. A stronger emphasis on prevention has been established through early interventions and the TEC-first model.

Director of Public Health 2025 Annual Report - The Public Health Case for Quality Employment

The committee considered the 2025 Director of Public Health Annual Report, which focuses on the critical relationship between employment and health, making the case for quality employment as a public health intervention. The report highlights the scale of the challenge in Lincolnshire, the impact of poor-quality work and worklessness on population health, and opportunities for cross-sector action. It notes that Lincolnshire faces distinct challenges, including coastal deprivation, rural isolation, and an ageing population, alongside opportunities for inclusive growth in sectors like agri-food, manufacturing, and tourism. The report calls for coordinated action across all sectors, outlining a prevention framework and recommending the expansion of supported employment, tackling barriers such as poor transport and digital exclusion, and improving workplace health. The report estimates that £1.8 billion is lost annually to worklessness in Lincolnshire, representing approximately 10% of the county's total economic value. It also highlights that moving people into employment could generate significant financial gains for residents and society through increased tax revenue, reduced benefit payments, and lower healthcare costs. The report proposes five key actions: expanding supported employment schemes, investing in removing wider barriers, providing effective health services, encouraging employers to plan for workforce health, and raising awareness of the benefits of work and available support.

Arrangements for the Quality Accounts 2025/2026

The committee was invited to consider its approach to the Quality Accounts for 2025/26, which are reports detailing the quality of services provided by NHS-funded organisations. The legal framework requires significant providers of NHS-funded services to submit their draft Quality Account to their local health overview and scrutiny committee, Healthwatch, and relevant clinical commissioning group. While there is no obligation for the committee to make a statement, it is entitled to do so. The report outlined that in 2025, the committee had provided statements on three Lincolnshire-based trusts: Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. It also noted that statements were not possible for East Midlands Ambulance Service, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust due to timing issues following county council elections. The committee was asked to consider the summary of priorities for improvement for 2025/26 from various providers, including East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, and United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, to inform its decision on which Quality Accounts to make a statement on in 2026. The committee was also asked to consider arrangements for making statements, such as working group arrangements or circulation of draft accounts for comments.

Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire - Work Programme

The committee reviewed its current work programme and considered potential items for inclusion or removal. The confirmed items for forthcoming meetings included updates on the Director of Public Health's 2024 Annual Report, the 2025 Annual Report, and arrangements for Quality Accounts in 2026. Future meetings were scheduled to cover East Midlands Ambulance Service's emergency and urgent care services, community pharmacy and prescription medicines availability, maternity and neonatal services, Neighbourhood Health Planning, and NHS winter planning. Items identified for programming included an overview of hospital discharge arrangements, Urgent Treatment Centres in Lincolnshire, stroke services at United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Stamford Health engagement exercise, NHS Lincolnshire ICB clustering arrangements and 5-year strategy, and an annual update from North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust. The committee noted that none of the current items in the confirmed work programme constituted a formal consultation requiring a statutory response.