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.
Rory visited Hospice at Home’s Gillwilly Estate base in Penrith last week, where he met with staff and Trustees of the renowned hospice charity that operates in Eden, Carlisle and Allerdale. Rory discussed the charity’s history, its current plans and its reactions to the potential impact of the recently published Palliative Care Funding Review. The […]
Rory has expressed his delight that Ministers have listened to his request to alter legislation that previously barred ambulances from entering crime scenes until declared safe by the police. The protocol – which prevented two of the north-west region’s ambulance charities, the Great North Air Ambulance and the North West Ambulance Service, from attending immediately […]
Rory visited Eden Valley Hospice’s Durdar Road, Carlisle base on Friday, where he met with staff and Board members of the renowned Cumbrian hospice charity, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Guided by Chair Carol Ferguson and Head of Nursing Services Gillian Ward, the local MP visited the day hospice, adult in-patients’ ward, out-patients’ […]
Rory opened the new Penrith Headquarters of the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust on Friday 11th February 2011. He was also shown the innovative developments in mental health and learning disability services in Cumbria. Trust Chair Bryan Betterton launched the first issue of the Learning Network’s new research journal which publishes research from eminent clinicians, […]
Rory has launched a new campaign to ensure Cumbrian healthcare gets the full benefit of new technology and superfast broadband. During the last month Rory has held separate meetings with executives at NHS Cumbria, the Cumberland Infirmary, the Joint Leagues of Friends of north Cumbria’s community hospitals, and the out-of-hours service Cumbria Health On-Call […]
Community hospitals Joint League of Friends Rory committed to fight for the north Cumbria’s community hospitals in a meeting with representatives of the Joint Leagues of Friends (JLOF) on Saturday November 27th at Penrith Hospital. Rory emphasised the vital role of community hospitals and “the crucial importance of supporting them”. Representatives from Wigton, Penrith, […]
Rory has teamed up with ITV’s This Morning celebrity GP Dr Chris Steele MBE to support this year’s Carers Week (14 – 20 June) and celebrate the contribution made by people in Penrith and the Border, and throughout the UK, who provide unpaid care for someone who is ill, frail or disabled. The theme of Carers […]