Hospital: MP wants answers
Last updated at 11:18, Thursday, 27 September 2012
URGENT questions about the West Cumberland Hospital have been fired off by Copeland’s MP to new health chiefs.
Jamie Reed has told the new boss of the Whitehaven hospital: “Clearly there is a huge amount of anxiety surrounding the redevelopment of the West Cumberland Hospital.
“The government has consistently reduced the available budget for the hospital and the NHS reorganisation and the consequent chaos engulfing clinical commissioning has made this anxiety worse.”
The MP has sent a letter to Ann Farrar, the new interim chief executive of the hospital and the Cumberland Infirmary, asking for some answers surrounding the long-awaited Whitehaven development and its ongoing delays.
He asks:
How many beds will the redeveloped hospital have and what services will it provide?
Have clinicians approved the final specification?
Have plans been finalised?
Can you provide a categoric start and finish date for the project?
How much money has been spent on the redevelopment so far and on what? How much is available in total for the hospital redevelopment?
Has the money been released by the Treasury and has the business case been signed off at every level?
The MP also copied The Whitehaven News into the letter for Mrs Farrar, of Northumbria Healthcare Trust, which is taking over the hospitals as a result of long-running financial problems.
He told her: “Like me, I’m sure you appreciate the need for candour and transparency throughout the delivery of this project – this is the only way to command public trust.”
The West Cumberland Hospital £90million redevelopment has been hit by many delays but the finances now have to be signed off and contracts signed with Laing O’Rourke by November 23.
More recently timescales have not been met due to some proposed changes by the incoming Trust and how they can be incorporated into the redevelopment scheme.
The Northumbria Trust is due to take over the hospitals by April 1.
The North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust – which still currently runs the hospitals – would not give The Whitehaven News answers to the questions. Instead it issued a statement from Mrs Farrar: “We are keen to work with all our MPs and local stakeholders around the redevelopment of West Cumberland Hospital and will be responding directly to Mr Reed. Over the coming weeks we will be keeping our MPs and community fully informed as the redevelopment progresses.”
First published at 11:05, Thursday, 27 September 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk
Pity he hadn't the guts to tackle his government when they nearly totally bankrupted the place through Blairs stupid PFI initiative!!!
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Mr Reed should be rightly concern about lack of information.
westcumbrianwestcumbrianNorthumbria Foundation Trust has been slow to provide, information about timing and conditions of new built for WCH, They are still trying to change the capacity, and mode of service provision.
They are still minded to review almost all acute services including Trauma, Intensive Care, and Anaestetics.
The new management seems to forget, that WCH was built in west cumbria in first place after the war, because of nuclear infrastructure, and remoteness of region,nither of these two factors have changed.
Posted by westcumbrian on 3 October 2012 at 14:46