PATIENTS from south Cumbria may be asked to travel as far as Blackpool or Blackburn for specific expertise as a hospital trust looks to accelerate the restoration of services. Health care colleagues working in the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System have volunteered to be one of the first of a small number of areas in the country to formally ‘accelerate’ the restoration of services. The scale up to see and treat many more people means patients may be asked to go where there is specific expertise and capacity to see and treat them quicker and more effectively. They may be asked if they are comfortable to travel a little bit further or see a different person than usual to help the trust achieve as many appointments for as many people as possible. If this is something they not able to do easily or have reservations about, patients will be able to discuss alternatives.
LANCASHIRE will see an accelerated restoration of normal services over the next three months, according to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. Virtual wards, 3D eye scanners and at-home antibiotic kits are among the new initiatives to be trialled as part of a multimillion-pound effort to tackle lengthy waiting lists in the NHS. This ambitious government plan is positive news for patients in the county, particularly those who have had procedures and appointments postponed amid the Covid-19 pandemic. East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, Blackpool Teaching Hospital NHS FT and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FT are in-line to receive between £10m-£20m and will be working together in a bid to rapidly cut waiting lists by mid-August.
Healthcare workers in south Cumbria have volunteered to be one of the first of a small number of areas in the country to formally ‘accelerate’ the restoration of services.
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), Blackpool Teaching Hospital NHS FT, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, and Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT, will be working together to tackle their collective waiting lists during the next three months.
The initiative will be welcome news for patients who have seen appointments and procedures postponed due to the pandemic.
Many services have continued as near to normal as possible throughout the NHS, but concerns have increased about the rising numbers of patients waiting for care and treatment across health and social care settings.
Dan Whelan
Diaverum Facilities Management has taken a 13,500 sq ft unit at the Lancashire shopping centre where it will operate a dialysis treatment centre.
The company is one of the largest independent dialysis providers in the UK, caring for more than 2,000 patients through its network of renal centres. In total, the company operates more than 700 clinics internationally.
Briercliffe Shopping Centre, located north of Burnley town centre near the hospital, is Diaverum’s latest site and is due to open later this year. The clinic is to be overseen by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The retail park is owned by Waypoint Asset Management and is let to occupiers including bookmakers Coral and William Hill, as well as supermarket chain Iceland.
Chris Wilding, 31, with new-born daughter Riven, and two-year-old daughter, Aurora. A man who once competed in England’s strong man competition has set himself a challenge to climb Scotland’s largest mountain, Ben Nevis, in aid of neonatal and maternity charity Baby Beat. Chris Wilding, 31, from Preston, decided on the challenge of climbing the highest mountain in the British Isles at 1,345 metres for Baby Beat after the antenatal care his wife, Heather received at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Heather, who recently gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Riven, weighing 8Lbs 15oz had a worrying pregnancy, after she and Chris received the news Riven was not developing as expected.