How the Whitehaven Relief Road could help West Cumberland Hospital

There is a current public consultation about a possible A595 relief road for Whitehaven which I believe has the potential to significantly improve the viability of West Cumberland Hospital and outcomes for patients.

This is a first stage consultation by Highways England who have not yet defined a route for the proposed new road and assure me that they are genuinely interested in suggestions from local stakeholders and the public about where the road should go.

One of the suggestions which has been discussed between local county councillors and Highways England is the possibility that the relief road could include a specific spur to the hospital. The most likely route - East of Whitehaven from approximately the present Moresby roundabout at the South end of the Distington by-pass to a point between Westlakes and Moor Row - would make this relatively easy to add.

Clearly this would be a huge benefit to ambulances and patients needing to get to WCH in a hurry - and I doubt if I need to spell out to anyone reading this the potential benefit in terms of patient outcomes from that - but it would also make it easier for staff and resources to get to the West Cumberland and thereby improve the viability of the hospital. 

The proposed new relief road is not dependent on Moorside and it is a serious proposal. At the start of this month Transport secretary Chris Grayling came in person to Copeland to kick off the consultation on the proposed Whitehaven Relief Road and announced his "Cast Iron Commitment" to improving Cumbria's Roads as you can read on the government website at

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/governments-cast-iron-commitment-to-cumbrias-roads

Chris Grayling said:

• "Investing in Cumbria’s vital transport routes cuts congestion, ensures drivers enjoy faster, safer journeys, and increases the freight capacity needed to drive forward jobs and economic growth." 
• "This shows our cast-iron commitment to Cumbria, as we deliver the investment needed to provide businesses and commuters with more reliable and resilient journeys." 

The consultation formally began on Wednesday 7th November 2018 and lasts until 19th December 2018. Consultation survey forms were sent out to residents in the Whitehaven area and for some distance around and the consultation programme includes another two drop-in meetings next week:

Date	Time	Venue	Address
Wednesday 28 November	2pm – 7pm	Beacon Museum	The Beacon Portal, West Strand, Whitehaven, CA28 7LY
Thursday 29 November	10am – 2pm	Ingwell Hall (Gunson Room)	Ingwell Drive, Westlakes Science and Technology Park, Moor Row, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA24 3JZ

You can also read details of the proposals and respond online at

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/he/a595-whitehaven-public-consultation/

I believe that we need this road and that it would be particularly helpful if as many people as possible responded to the consultation and said so, and if they also included in their response that it would be a very good idea - and very probably save lives - if the relief road included a spur to West Cumberland Hospital.

If you want to respond to the consultation you can do so using any of the four following methods by 19 December 2018: 

• Online – complete the response form online using the above link
• Complete the consultation response form in the consultation brochure and return it using the freepost address provided 
• Email your response to: A595Whitehaven@highwaysengland.co.uk 
• Post – write to Highways England at: 

Business Reply Plus Licence Number RTZS–CEET–CSXR WSP 

Amber Court 

William Armstrong Drive 

Newcastle upon Tyne 

Tyne and Wear NE4 7YQ 

All responses should be returned by 19 December 2018. 

Primary and Community Healthcare

The Health Secretary has announced £3.5 billion for primary and community healthcare so that more people can access the healthcare they need from the comfort of their own home as part of our long term plan for the NHS…

 

·         The Conservative government is allocating £3.5 billion in funding towards community-based rapid response teams to provide urgent care and support at home. This will include support for residents in care homes so we can reduce pressures on the NHS.

 

·         These changes will provide a genuine and high-quality alternative to hospital meaning more people can leave hospital quicker, or avoid being admitted in the first place – which is better for patients and reduces pressure on our NHS and its hardworking staff.

Getting better technology for the NHS

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been in Paris today meeting world leaders and businesses to discuss ways to fast-track new healthcare technologies for use in our NHS. 

He has been at the GovTech summit alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and other EU ministers. 

The summit was called to look at how emerging technologies can be used to revolutionise healthcare. Matt Hancock also took part in a panel at Paris City Hall entitled 

“From Lab to Gov: Harnessing the power of innovation” to discuss the importance of embracing the latest advances in tech and artificial intelligence (AI) for health and social care. 

Mr Hancock said: 

“I’ve said I’ll scour the world to find technology to improve the NHS. “So as we build the most dynamic HealthTech ecosystem on the planet, it’s vital we work closely with our friends and neighbours. 

“Britain and France have a centuries long tradition of medical collaboration and now we want to turn that into a collaboration on cutting edge health technology.” 

Among the other delegates are representatives from the UN and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as well as a number of academics and representatives from tech companies, from giants like Facebook and Microsoft to smaller tech start ups.

Maintaining good health: Prevention is better than cure

The Health Secretary will today outline his vision to put prevention at the heart of the government's long term plan for the NHS, helping to bring healthcare into the modern era and focusing on promoting the health of the whole individual.

Key facts:

Building on the Government’s work in areas such as childhood obesity and social prescribing, the Health Secretary will set out how:

• The Government is committing to publishing the first ever Green Paper on prevention next year, with a focus on prevention through primary and community care services. 
• Britain currently spends £97 billion of public money on treating disease and only £8 billion preventing it across the UK. 
• Illness among people of working-age costs the economy more than £100 billion a year. 
• Poor health in England affects not just physical and mental health, but also impacts on social interaction, crime, communities and jobs. 

Why this matters:

Focusing on prevention and predictive medicine isn’t just the difference between life and death, it’s the difference between spending the last 20 years of your life fit and active, or in constant pain from a chronic condition.

The government's proposed balanced approach means we can provide the single, largest cash injection to the NHS ever, but only with a renewed focus on prevention not cure can our NHS be sustainable in the long term.