A major redesign of Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary is on the cards after the hospital was labelled "not fit for purpose" by its top boss.

Chief executive Stephen Eames has now explained his remarks, saying it is the ground floor that needs a considerable overhaul.

The plans being drawn up for the infirmary would see the current layout transformed from the main entrance, creating an "emergency floor" similar to that in the new Whitehaven hospital.

That would meaning bringing all aspects of urgent care, currently spread across the site, into the same part of the building.

Mr Eames said: "I wasn't saying the hospital wasn't fit for purpose, I was saying the ground floor wasn't fit for purpose.

"We are going to redesign the ground floor so it is more suited to the emergency pathway. At the moment, bits of emergency services are scattered around the hospital, whereas in the new West Cumberland Hospital it is all together."

It is likely that outpatient clinics would move as a result.

The £67 million Cumberland Infirmary opened in 2000 – the first in the country to be built with controversial Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding. But there has since been widespread criticism of the building, and serious fire safety flaws were recently identified.


Stephen Eames Mr Eames said the redesign would be carried out at the same time as planned fire safety improvement works.

"There is £7m being spent upgrading the facilities here to meet the fire regulations. What we are doing is taking the opportunity while that's going on to improve facilities," he explained.

He said they are currently working with the trust's PFI partners to draw up and approve the final designs.

As part of the controversial Success Regime plans to overhaul healthcare in Cumbria, more seriously ill patients from west Cumbria will soon be sent to Carlisle for treatment - and in the longer term the number of beds across the two hospitals is set to drop by 100.

Concerns were raised throughout the consultation that the overstretched Cumberland Infirmary, where beds are already in short supply, would struggle. At the time Mr Eames said the hospital could cope without major expansion.