New lead and deputy governors for NHS trust
Linda Radcliffe and Carole Woodman
New lead and deputy lead governors have been appointed at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Carole Woodman has taken over from Jane Smith as lead governor and Linda Radcliffe will replace Keith Amey as deputy lead governor.
Carole is a public governor for Copeland and Linda is a public governor for Allerdale.
Carole said: âIt’s a privilege to have been elected. My focus will be on developing strong partnerships with our staff, members and local communities to enable us to shape the healthcare system we need for the future.â
A HOSPITAL education centre has gone the extra mile to ensure the safety of staff and students with the help of a specialist upholstery firm. Chairs and seats at the James George Education Centre at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle have been reupholstered in an easy-to-clean, antimicrobial surface to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The work was done by Ghyll House Upholstery and Design based at Mealsgate, near Cockermouth in Cumbria. It is the latest in a series of projects in the medical sector for the Ghyll House team, which has completed similar work for several GP surgeries in Cumbria and Yorkshire.
Sarah Townsend
A business case for the second phase of the West Cumberland Hospital redevelopment in Whitehaven has been approved, following completion of the first phase in 2015.
Outline consent was awarded in October and a full planning application is expected to be submitted in the coming months.
The £40m second phase of the hospital redevelopment is intended to upgrade facilities for patients and staff to create a better environment, while retaining bed capacity and services and improving the hospital’s ability to undertake additional planned operations in future.
The scheme is being delivered by North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, which completed the first phase, which cost around £90m and saw the opening of the new hospital building, in 2015. Subsequent work completed in 2019 to open a breast screening department and redevelop the cardiology and vascular services at the hospital.
Cumbria has suffered its worst week for coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic. The latest data for the week ending January 22 shows that 85 people died with coronavirus in the county. The tragic news comes as infection rates in the community continue to drop, but hospitals remain under intense pressure and new admissions continue to increase in the south of the county. Cumbria’s director of public health, Colin Cox, is urging people not to become complacent as infection numbers fall. “There are still some hard times ahead, particularly with deaths and hospitalisations and the NHS is still struggling.