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.
Penrith and the Border has, I believe, more community hospitals than any constituency in Britain. We have them in Penrith, Brampton, Alston, and Wigton, and we border Keswick and Cockermouth. (The national average is one for every two constituencies). And they are, have always been, will always be, under threat. In 2005 they were almost closed by a stroke […]
Rory this week pledged his support for Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland in an online competition by Persimmon Homes, which is looking to offer one charitable organisation a house worth £250,000. In the competition, which is running until 20th September, the public is being encouraged to vote for the charity they deem to […]
Rory visited the Cumberland Infirmary’s Telestroke Service on Friday, where he congratulated the team behind the success of this flagship service, which allows consultants to monitor and diagnose stroke patients remotely. The presentation, led by the Cumberland Infirmary’s Dr Paul Davies, explained how the Telestroke Service, which links 15 stroke consultants from eight hospitals across […]
Rory argued the nation should learn from Cumbrian community hospitals in a House of Commons debate on the future of community hospitals. Rory – who is also Treasurer of the APPG on Rural Services – used the debate to highlight the essential healthcare services that community hospitals provide to residents within rural communities. He argued […]
Transcript I feel shy speaking in front of this extremely distinguished audience. It is impressive to take part in a debate involving people with so much expertise. I was impressed by the extraordinary confidence with which my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Dr Lee) said things that we would not dare say to any […]
Prior to Thursday’s House of Commons debate on community hospitals, a record number of Cumbrian community hospital staff came to Parliament yesterday, where they met with Rory. A significant number of attendees at the Westminster tea, celebrating the work of community hospitals in Britain, were from Cumbria. They included Val Ogilvy, Sister at Wigton Hospital; Maureen […]
Rory has raised with the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, the troubling issue of First Responders’ lack of access to children in emergency situations. Following meetings with First Responders from Penrith and the Border, he is urging the Secretary to review existing legislation and protocols to try to find a compromise which would allow First Responder groups to […]
Rory has welcomed news that seven NHS hospital Trusts which face serious structural financial issues may receive additional support from the Department of Health. The trusts, among them NCUH NHS Trust at the Cumberland Infirmary, must demonstrate that they meet four key tests. This follows a meeting he brokered for Secretary of State Andrew Lansley […]
Rory has written in strong support of the Alston community ambulance to the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) Trust’s Director of Performance and Patient Experience, Sarah Byrom. The Penrith and the Border MP, who has long championed the valuable service carried out by the ambulance in the Alston Moor area, said that “the community ambulance […]
Rory will switch on the new video-link between Penrith and Alston community hospitals this Friday at Penrith Hospital. These state-of-the-art video-conferencing facilities will transform the way in which local patients obtain diagnoses and interact with their GP. Rory will join Dr Chris Hallewell, Medical Director for Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (responsible for all community […]