Cumbria Health consultation starts today!

A twelve week consultation period starts today on healthcare in Cumbria, beginning with a launch event in Carlisle this morning and publication of a consultation document expected at 12 noon today.

This will affect both District General Hospitals and community hospitals and is likely to include significant changes to maternity care which will be of great interest and concern to many residents of the county.

Key stakeholders, such as local MPs, councils, community groups and health trust governors, will also be briefed just before the plans go public.

The proposals are likely to include more than one option within each proposal, with the "Success Regime" making clear which it sees as the preferred scenario. This will form the basis for the consultation, which will include more public meetings in communities across the area.

It is a year since the Success Regime moved in to set out its intentions - to tackle deep-rooted problems in the local NHS, including huge debts and recruitment problems.

It came after North Cumbria was deemed one of three areas of England with the most challenged health economies by the Government.

Developments as they unfold today will be reported at www.news-and-star.co.uk

Consultation details will also appear on the website of the NHS "Success Regime" in Cumbria, which will be an essential destination for those who want to keep consultant-led maternity services at West Cumberland hospital, and can be found at

http://www.successregimecumbria.nhs.uk/

The feedback page on the site is already open and people who have concerns they want to share with the Success regime can do so at

 http://www.successregimecumbria.nhs.uk/have-your-say