Penrith and The Border has more community hospitals than any other constituency in Britain (Brampton, Alston, Penrith, and Wigton). They are, have always been, and will always be under threat. In 2005 one in four of all Cumbrians signed a petition to keep the hospitals open. They were saved and the Primary Care Trust and its successors have since committed to keeping them.
The reason community hospitals matter more so now than ever before, is because our needs in Cumbria are changing. In the next twenty years we will have twice the number of people over 85 in Cumbria. Those aged over 65 is set to rise to 35 per cent over the same period, and hospital admissions are likely to rise by 60 per cent because of increasing long years of chronic illness. This will be a financial disaster for the NHS, which could face an extra 20 million pounds of costs in Alzheimers treatment in Cumbria alone, each year.
Today, in response to campaigning for the Hospice movement by Rory Stewart MP and other MPs the Chancellor has agreed to provide financial support for Hospices by refunding their VAT. Rory Stewart committed in his manifesto to ensuring that community and voluntary organisations are fully supported in Cumbrian health-care; and he has particular focus […]
Following the recent publication of a CQC report on the quality of care provided at Court Thorn surgery in Hesket, where the local Patient Participation Group (PPG) was praised for the outstanding support it provides to both the surgery and the local community, the PPG has teamed up with MP Rory Stewart to encourage their […]
Rory and Alston League of Friends have successfully saved the community ambulance from abolition. The decision by Northwest Ambulance Service and NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group to retain the vehicle and to train twelve community first responders, marks the culmination of two and a half years of intensive meetings and negotiations. Despite a severe snow […]
We have just had some fantastic news. The Alston Community Ambulance – the only one of its kind – which was threatened with abolition, has been saved. This marks the culmination of two and a half years of intensive meetings and negotiations. I am writing in a snowstorm on Alston Moor, which emphasises – […]
Rory visited the Birbeck Medical Practice in Penrith to see firsthand the hard work being done by its GPs and staff to treat their 16,000 patients and keep them healthy. He was struck not just by the quality of their work, but also by their over-crowded premises, and is keen to convince the healthcare trust […]
Rory was invited to tour around the villages of Greystoke, Penruddock and Newbiggin to see firsthand the way in which the Eden Lifeline Project is helping to save lives in rural communities through the installation of community Public Access Defibrillators (cPADs). There are now 11 cPADs installed outside village halls across Eden, and the Eden […]
“I have been a strong advocate of the need for the Keogh review, and support the very detailed investigations that have taken place under the leadership of Sir Bruce Keogh. My absolute bottom line remains the provision of the best possible hospital care for my constituents and for all those who use the Cumberland Infirmary, […]
Rory paid a visit this week to the Gaudium daycare centre in Penrith, which specialises in care for dementia patients, to meet with some of the centre’s users, and to discuss the future and concerns of local healthcare providers dealing with dementia care and care for the elderly in Cumbria. Over the next twenty years, […]
Rory is encouraging interested constituents to engage in the forthcoming visit of Sir Bruce Keogh to Cumbria. The National Medical Director of the NHS will be visiting the county with a review team next week, and will be spending a few days meeting with members of the public to discuss their experiences and concerns regarding […]
Rory spent time this week meeting staff, patients and their relatives at the Beacon Edge Specialist Nursing Home in Penrith, which provides nursing care for 35 residents who are living with dementia. Rory chatted with senior carer assistant, Ellen Harrison, who has worked at Beacon Edge for seventeed years, and had a chance to see […]