Who we are and what we do

Who we are

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust was established on 1 October 2007, under the National Health Service Act 2006 – we were the first NHS mental health organisation to become a foundation trust in the East Midlands.

Being a foundation trust means we report to the local people through our Council of Governors and are regulated by an independent body called NHS England.

The most important part of being a foundation trust is that it brings the organisation closer to the people who matter most. We want local people, service users and carers and those who support and represent them, to have much more influence over how we go about planning and delivering our services.

We currently have around 9,200 members, drawn from the local community and our own staff.  We have elected and appointed governors to act on our behalf, and they play a crucial role in everything that we do, including appointing our chair and non-executive directors.

There are also many other benefits of becoming a foundation trust, such as greater financial freedom. Foundation trusts are able to invest and borrow funds and can reinvest surpluses too. This allows us to better plan for the future, and to take decisions about how services are run, knowing the level of available funding.

The Trust can also enter formal partnerships and joint ventures with other organisations outside the NHS – such as voluntary organisations or housing providers.  

What we do

We are the main provider of NHS mental health services in the county, as well as providing specialist services for autistic people and those with learning disabilities.

Apart from some very specialist services that can only be provided by other organisations outside the area, we provide the full spectrum of mental health care, including:

• Talking therapies for mild to moderate mental health issues such as anxiety or depression.
• Community services for people of all ages, who are recovering from severe or long-term mental illness.
• Crisis and home treatment for when someone becomes unwell and needs support to prevent them needing hospital admission.
• Mental health inpatient care for people experiencing a severe, short-term episode of mental illness or ‘crisis’.
• Mental health rehabilitation for people with severe or long-term mental health problems who require support in returning to the community to live independently.
• Specialist psychological therapies, including neuropsychology.
• More specialist services, including personality and complex trauma, perinatal, eating disorders, veterans, early intervention in psychosis.
• Some social care support for adults, children, families, and older people who are experiencing mental ill health.
• Dementia and memory services.
• Learning disabilities and autism support, including adult autism diagnosis.

Until the end of March 2023, we also provided young people mental health and wellbeing services in North East Lincolnshire.

We are increasingly working towards becoming more community-based and work in close partnership with colleagues in the integrated care system which include local authorities, district councils, charitable and voluntary organisations, as well as with service users, carers and their representatives. We endeavour to provide people with an alternative to admission and where appropriate, provide treatment, care, and support outside a formal hospital setting.

Below is a snapshot of a few key facts and figures for the year ending 31 March 2023.

• We care for a population of around 768,400 (census 2021), in the fourth largest county in England covering around 5,921 square miles.
• We have supported some 54,000 people to access our services over the last year. This has included people:
  • Attending outpatient clinics or appointments.
  • Receiving contact from one of our community teams, crisis support or specialist services.
  • Being admitted to one of our 14 inpatient wards across Boston, Grantham and Lincoln, which collectively have around 200 inpatient beds.
• We operate from 50+ sites, but also work largely in our community, using local community hubs, GP practices and other suitable community venues.
• We employ 2,984 staff, which includes our temporary bank staff (2,847 in 2021/22).
  • 2,393 are female (2,289 in 2021/22).
  • 591 are males (558 in 2021/22).
• Last year we had circa 9,243 members (a decrease from 9,300 in 2021/22).
• Finally, we had an annual budget of circa. £140m (this has increased from c.£120m in 2021/22).

Our values

Our Trust vision, values and behaviours should be a core part of who we are and how we do what we do. It is important that staff, patients and carers, and our partners, can all easily see what the Trust stands for, and what they can expect from us in the way we behave.

You can read more about our vision and values by using this link