Fellview Healthcare Ltd held an awards ceremony this week to hand out certificates to their employees who had completed training in a variety of areas.
They are also currently training four nurse practitioners and have employed two new advanced nurse practitioners. This is in response to a lack of GPs in Copeland.
Dr Chaitra Hodegere of Fellview, which is based at Cleator Moor Health Centre, said: “Most of the Copeland practices, including ours, are struggling to recruit GPs for a number of years.
“With GPs taking early retirement, a lack of training in West Cumbria and services moving from West Cumberland Hospital to Carlisle, there doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
“We do acknowledge that we have been found wanting at times and we ourselves feel that we are not able to give the level of care we want to. We are currently working at 45 to 50 per cent of our GP levels.
“But despite our recruitment struggles we have made the decision to invest in future planning and innovative ways of delivering care to our patients with the limited resources we have.’’
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