Hospitals for the future: work at WCH and CIC

A statement was issued this week by North Cumbria Integrated care about the building works at both District General Hospitals, West Cumberland Hospital (WCH) and the Cumberland Infirmary at Carlisle (CIC). It can be found on the NCIC website here and reads as follows: 

"If you have visited either the Cumberland Infirmary (CIC) or West Cumberland Hospital (WCH) sites, you will notice that there is significant work taking place at the moment in addition to the building of the cancer centre in Carlisle and the demolition at WCH

A range of improvements are being undertaken with the £4m funding we have secured nationally to prepare for the winter in addition to the £8m that has been secured to replace the CT and MRI scanner at the CIC. 

•  Our teams are doing their best to ensure there is minimum disruption across the sites and once complete, the works will ensure we are able to significantly improve the environment for delivering patient care. 
• As part of the £4m funding we received to get hospitals ready for the winter we are undertaking: Significant upgrade for the paediatric facility within Accident & Emergency at CIC. 
• Work on this starts this week and will utilise the space that was occupied by the site co-ordinators and discharge teams to make way for three consulting rooms, a triage area and an improved waiting area. The site co-ordinators have moved into the medical records space opposite and the discharge teams have moved to the Pillar Building at CIC. 
• Work is also being planned to create 9 additional rooms in the A&E department. 
• The introduction of Same Day Emergency Care at the Cumberland Infirmary which went live in August, with the building works due to complete by December. The dermatology service has been relocated to Hill Top Heights and further updates will follow 

We are making changes to some of the inpatient areas in CIC in order to increase the number of single rooms we have access to. This will help with isolating patients where this is required, while maintaining our bed capacity. This includes utilising Aspen as an inpatient area with surgical pre-admissions moving into a temporary area on the ground floor in the day surgery and endoscopy areas and displacement of some consultant and SAS doctors rooms which we are looking at options for. Work has already started in Larch C to provide an additional room that enables us to isolate patients for infection prevention and to improve the environment for patients on the ward. 

• A refurbishment of ward 4 at WCH has taken place with a, new air conditioning unit, lighting, nurses station and medicine cupboard being fitted. This brings a much improved environment for both patients and staff. 
• A refurbishment of ward 3 starts this week. 
• £1.75m has been allocated to improve the flow of Urgent & Emergency Care services at WCH. This will allow for improvements for the same day emergency care facility and moving Ambulatory Care to a modular building which will accommodate treatment areas, doctor’s room and a procedure room. 

This work is all in addition to the planned work taking place to provide a new diagnostic suite on the ground floor of the Cumberland Infirmary site. A new CT scanner was recently delivered and an MRI scanner will be installed mid-November. The new facility will house the new scanners as well as an increased ultrasound capacity and is expected to be up and running in December. It is the first stage of an £8m investment which includes an upgrade to the current facilities on the first floor of the infirmary and once the work is fully complete it will mean services will no longer rely on the mobile units. It will also significantly increase capacity and provide much improved diagnostic quality which will also support patients accessing the new cancer centre on the site. 

All works are expected to be completed by spring 2021. Anna Stabler, chief nurse said: 

'This has been a significant piece of work and I know it has involved moving and disrupting many teams to facilitate this often at short notice and I’m very grateful for the support and patience with all the moves. Ultimately, this will ensure we are ready for this winter and will significantly enhance the environment and facilities available to us for delivering patient care across the Trust.'”

If you have cancer or heart disease symptoms, get them checked.

 "Cancer won't wait for the pandemic and neither should you."

This is a quote from Peter Rooney, Chief Operating Officer of the NHS's North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group, speaking earlier this year at a meeting of Cumbria Health Scrutiny committee about the need for anyone invited for cancer screening or showing symptoms which could potentially be cancer to get themselves checked.

One of the most malign consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is that we are building up a backlog of undiagnosed cases of other serious conditions such as cancer which have not been detected or treated either because of disruption to the non-COID work of the NHS or because people have not been coming forward for fear of catching the coronavirus if they come to a hospital or GP surgery.

Although the majority of the excess deaths experienced by Britain and indeed most countries from march onwards compared with deaths at the same time in other recent years appear to have been directly caused or contributed to by the Coronavirus - in this country the number of deaths with COVID-19 mentioned on the death certificate represents the large majority, but by no means all, of the excess deaths recorded in the first eight months of 2020. 

Some of the difference may be due to an underestimate of the direct impact of the Coronavirus, but there is reason to suspect that a substantial part of the difference between estimated COVID deaths and total excess deaths during the first wave is due to the indirect effects of COVID-19, including deaths from other conditions for which the deceased would have been successfully treated if the pandemic had never happened.

It is imperative that we don't allow a further buildup of undiagnosed and potentially fatal diseases such as cancer.

If you - or anyone you love - has symptoms which could be cancer or heart disease, you will face a greater increased risk of dying avoidably from those conditions if you do not seek medical help and get them checked than you face in increased risk of dying from Coronavirus if you do.

The Tipping Point

Today, Britain's Deputy Chief Medical Officer warned that we are at a tipping point in our national fight against Covid-19, and called on every one of us to act now by playing our part to saves lives and protect our NHS – by remembering the fundamental principles to wash hands, cover face and make space. 

• As we see the number of cases increasing, we have now reached a tipping point similar to where we were earlier this year in our fight against this terrible disease, as we see the rate of infection and hospital admissions significantly rising once again.
   
• As we head in the Winter months, we know that the fight against Covid-19 is by no means over. We must act now to control the virus and help protect our NHS as they continue to care for everyone who urgently needs support. It is our duty to protect the NHS so it can continue to provide its other vital services and treatments, for us, our families and our loved ones.
   
• In March we were fighting a semi-invisible disease, one which we had little knowledge of – but now we know where it is and how to tackle it – so let us grasp this moment and act now by following the principles we know keep transmission low, so we can control the virus, saves lives and help protect our NHS.

Remember: Wash your HANDS, cover your FACE and make SPACE for people.