Princess Royal opens £40 million new facilities at WCH

The third and final phase of the redevelopment of the West Cumberland hospital, all built and equipped with funding agreed and provided during the 2010 to 2024 Conservative led governments, has been opened by the Princess Royal.

The new facilities include a therapy gym, a courtyard with access to a 'challenge path' and a kitchen to prepare patients for returning home after a stay in hospital.

Princess Anne unveiled the plaque and was invited to sign the visitor book which had previously been signed by her grandmother Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother when she first opened West Cumberland Hospital in 1964 and King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, when he visited the hospital in 2010.

Steven Morgan, Chair of North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) NHS Foundation Trust said, 

“We are delighted that the Princess Royal, as Patron of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, has officially opened this fantastic new facility in Whitehaven today.

"It’s a great step forward and will benefit the residents of West Cumbria for years to come.

"I was pleased to hear about the vital role that occupational therapists play in our patient’s recovery and the innovative practice they are developing to make that a reality.”

Dr Sarah Elliott, Associate Director of AHPs at NCIC added, 

“We hope we have demonstrated that despite the geographical challenges of being a diverse rural and coastal organisation, that NCIC continues to develop and innovate evidence-based practice allowing individuals to start well, live well and age well.

"We hope that we have demonstrated to you the sense of real pride our community and colleagues feel for the outstanding services we provide and how much we appreciate your support.”

Wishing His Majesty a full and quick recovery

"Wishing His Majesty a full and speedy recovery.

I have no doubt he’ll be back to full strength in no time and I know the whole country will be wishing him well."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

I also, of course, with His Majesty the King a full and speedy recovery following his cancer diagnosis.

For anyone who has not seen it, this was a statement from the palace yesterday:

World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health Day 2023.

World Mental Health Day (10 Oct) is a day to talk about mental health and show everyone that mental health matters. It’s also a day to let people know that it’s okay to ask for help, no matter what you’re going through. 

As the theme of World Mental Health Day highlights, ‘mental health is a universal human right’.

Three new medical schools

It is great news for West Cumberland Hospital and for patients in West Cumbria that today the health secretary announced three new medical schools as part of the NHS Workforce Plan.

Health secretary Steve Barclay laid out plans for the creation of three new medical schools and unveiled a new £30 million fund to speed out the roll out of cutting-edge technology across the NHS, improving patient care in the long-term and helping to cut waiting lists. 

• A strong NHS workforce, backed my new technologies and medical advancements, will ensure our NHS is fit for the future and there for people when they need it.
• The biggest challenge for hospital and health services, from district general hospitals to GP and Dental surgeries, has been the shortage of doctors, dentists and other medical professionals which is mainly due to the fact that for thirty years, under governments of all political parties, Britain has  not been training enough of them. That's why there is a shortage of GPs in many parts of Cumbria and is the main reason behind repeated threats to local hospital services. Jeremy Hunt finally started to address this when he was health secretary, increasing the number of medical training places and launching a previous round of new medical scbools. But although this was welcome, still more places were needed. 
• That is why I was very pleased to hear the Health Secretary today announce the creation of three new NHS medical schools to provide a further 205 undergraduate places from September next year and help deliver on the government's long-term ambition to double the number of medical school places to 15,000 by 2031. 
• The Health Secretary also announced the creation of a new £30 million Health Technology Adoption and Acceleration Fund, helping local NHS organisations to rapidly adopt new technologies to detect illnesses sooner, help people receive treatment in their own home, and increase productivity.
• This is good news, I hope and expect that today’s announcements will ensure patients get the care they need when they need it – as we focus on making the long-term decisions for a brighter future.  

£200 million of new funding to help the NHS through the winter

Further to yesterday's post, I was pleaseed to see that today the government  announced £200 million of new funding for the NHS, boosting resilience so patients get the care they need this winter as we cut waiting lists.

• Winter brings immense challenges for the NHS, so it is important that the government is working with health leaders to make sure the NHS is prepared. 
• That is why I was pleased to see that the government is investing £200 million to boost resilience in the NHS and protect elective care so we can address the serious challenge of cutting waiting lists. The government is also investing £40 million to bolster social care capacity and improve discharge from hospital. 
• This funding will help patients get the care they need and help to cut waiting lists.

Getting the NHS ready for winter

I was pleased to learn that the Prime Minister met with NHS leaders and health experts today to prepare the NHS for winter pressures, making sure patients get the care they need.

• NHS waiting lists have been a top concern since even before the pandemic. There is some progress in some areas - for example waits of over two years for NHS treatment have been eliminated – but there is some way to go and furthermore, pressure on the NHS always increases over the winter.
• That is why the Prime Minister met with NHS leaders today to discuss ways to mitigate winter pressures, improve care for patients and continue to get waiting lists down so patients can access the care they need, when they need it. 
• The government is starting planning for winter earlier than before so we can continue to deliver the very best care for patients. 

Phone systems for GP surgeries

The government announced today that more than one thousand general practices have signed up to make the switch from analogue systems to modern, easy-to-use digital telephones, which is intended to make booking GP appointments easier and support efforts to cut waiting lists.

• Everyone understands the frustration which can be involved in booking a GP appointment and Conservatives want to see as much done as possible to ensure that people do not have to go through an 8am rush to make a booking.
• To address any aspects of the problem which are related to telephony, the government has invested £240 million to help more than one thousand practices make the switch from analogue systems to digital telephones – designed to make sure people can receive the care they need when they need it. 
• It is expected every practice in the country will have the new system in place by the end of this financial year, helping to improve patient access to care and put an end to the 8am rush as we work to cut waiting lists.
• Obviously in the long term the most important thing to be done is to reduce the shortage of GPs, which is why the government previously announced a proper NHS staffing programme which includes a massive increase in the number of doctor training places. Sadly, as it takes years to train a doctor, so this is not going to help much in the short term, but it will be critically important in the medium and long term to train more medical professionals so that this country has  enough doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives.

In the interests of full disclosure I should add that I work in the telecommunications industry as a manager in Openreach, part of the  BT group of companies. However, none of the information in this post came from BT or Openreach services and it does not necessarily reflect the views of BT or Openreach.