Pay rise for NHS staff announced

Our NHS staff work incredibly hard, day in, day out, throughout the country.

So it is great news that Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt was yesterday able to confirm that NHS staff including nurses, midwives, cleaners and porters will receive a pay rise of between 6.5% and 29%.

Five new medical schools to open

This comment by the head of Health Education England is in response to the announcement yesterday that five new medical schools are opening their doors to student doctors starting this September - in Sunderland, Lancashire, Canterbury, Lincoln and Chelmsford.

One of the key factors in keeping our hospital services open in Cumbria is the medical staff to run them, so the fact that Britain is finally addressing the need to train more doctors, after decades of neglect of this problem under governments in which all the major parties have taken part, is really excellent news.

Nominate your NHS hero for an award

To mark its 70^th anniversary the NHS is organising a series of awards for NHS heroes, for which nominations can be put forward through local MPs until 23^rd March.

We are incredibly fortunate to  have many fantastic people in Cumbria’s NHS doing great work on behalf of patients.

Whether they are doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and paramedics, midwives, dentists or the unsung heroes in other roles, our hospitals and GP and dental practices and other services are full of caring, hard-working people who often make incredible efforts to care for the sick and vulnerable, sometimes in very difficult circumstances.

 

Just to give one of the many, many examples of people in Cumbria’s health service who go way beyond the call of duty, Lisa Cairns, a matron in theatres and anaesthetics, walked for three hours through the snow on Saturday to get to work.

 

There are many other wonderful people like Lisa in our NHS.

We should be grateful to every one of them and thank them for what they do. The 70th anniversary awards scheme is an opportunity for us all to do this.

  

Anyone in Copeland who wants to nominate a health worker for an award can do so through Trudy Harrison MP before 23^rd March. Details of the scheme are available at

 

www.nhs70awards.co.uk

Archbishop of York to open stroke unit at WCH

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will be visiting West Cumberland Hospital next week to open the stroke unit in the name of Professor Olu Orugan, (pictured below) former stroke consultant in West Cumbria, who sadly died last year. As part of his visit, the Archbishop is hoping to meet, greet, and encourage staff and patients at the West Cumberland Hospital.

Professor Olu Orugun was a much revered consultant at the Trust and is sadly missed by all who knew him. Olu worked tirelessly to improve the health of the people of Cumbria and the staff who worked with him wanted a lasting legacy to remember his hard work and dedication.

The Archbishop is in Cumbria for the four-day mission entitled Moving Mountains.. This is an ecumenical mission from Thursday 8 March to Sunday 11 March involving the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the Salvation Army and the United Reformed Church with hundreds of local events taking place.

The Archbishop will arrive at 5pm on Friday 9 March. There will be opportunity to meet and chat with him from around 5.30pm in the Costa Coffee area of West Cumberland Hospital.

Revd Simon Cake, chaplain at West Cumberland Hospital for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“This is a huge honour for the Trust and it’s fantastic that the Archbishop is making a visit here. I know he is keen to speak to as many staff, patients and visitors as possible so please make yourself known to him.

“People who come into hospital for treatment can be facing huge changes and it’s important that the chaplaincy team is there to offer support to complement the brilliant medical work and offer a listening ear to peoples’ problems or anxieties." 

Paul Mead, renal consultant at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“Professor Orugun worked tirelessly to better the health of the people of Cumbria and was a real ambassador for the Trust. He was a much respected consultant and was liked by everyone he came into contact with. He was hugely popular with staff and patients and the work he put into the Trust will be a lasting legacy to the people of west Cumbria.

“It’s a real testament to the man he was that so many of the staff here at West Cumberland Hospital wanted to do something in his memory and he would honoured that the Archbishop is opening the unit in his name.”