Closer to Home

Two consultations in the past 48 hours on the "Closer to Home" NHS proposals: a "drop-in" consultation option at Whitehaven civic hall yesterday which attracted 70 residents and a meeting with Copeland Councillors this evening.

One point of clarification which was made to us: the "Accident and Emergency" department which is proposed at the West Cumberland and the replacement hospital in West Cumbria will provide a full 24/7 service in terms of how the NHS defines Accident and Emergency. However, it would not carry out all types of emergency surgery "out of hours" which we were told means between 9.00 pm and 9.00 am.

Apparently the trust is still evaluating and discussing with doctors how many extra transfers to Carlisle or elsewhere this would mean and hopes to have this information available before the end of the consultation.