Concerns about moves to leave a major stretch of Cumbria's notorious A595 out of a key transport plan have been flagged up with health bosses.

More seriously ill adults and children will soon be travelling between Whitehaven and Carlisle as part of controversial changes to the local NHS.

Due to changes in paediatrics, more higher risk births will also take place at the city's Cumberland Infirmary in future.

Yet proposals for the Government's Major Road Network (MRN) have prioritised the A596 as the major route to Carlisle.

It means the stretch of the A595 between Cockermouth and Carlisle, which is regularly used by ambulances transferring patients, is potentially less likely to secure funding for future upgrades.

The Government stresses that it is a draft plan at this stage, and may change following the current public consultation.

County councillor Neil Hughes - former chairman of the Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee - flagged up the issue at the latest meeting of NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which made the decision about changes to local health services.
Neil Hughes

He asked the CCG governing body whether the plan to exclude the Carlisle to Cockermouth stretch of the A595 would affect members' position on the plans to transfer more urgent cases to the Cumberland Infirmary.

Chairman Jon Rush stressed that when they made their decisions last year, it was based on the existing road network.

"I think we would all have some disappointment that there isn't going to be a change to the A595, but when we made our decision on March 8 we hadn't assumed there would be an upgrade to
the road," he said.

West Cumbrian health campaigners have also expressed concerns about the Government's Major Road Network (MRN) plan.

They have flagged up regular problems on the single-carriageway stretch of the A595 between Carlisle and Cockermouth - which has been regularly closed by accidents and bad weather.

It is also well-used by wagons transporting goods to and from the motorway, and is renowned for use by farm vehicles.

Carlisle MP John Stevenson and Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young have said they feel this should be in the major transport plan ahead of the A596, which takes traffic through Workington, Aspatria, Maryport, Flimby and several smaller villages.

Other parts of the A595 are included in the MRN. If agreed, these would be prioritised alongside motorways and trunk roads, making it more likely they would secure key investment for improvements.

However another notorious stretch of the A595, from Grizebeck to Dalton-in-Furness, near Barrow, is also omitted, as is the entire A591 - the main route through the Lake District.

The Department of Transport says the plan is out to consultation and the map could change, depending on feedback.

Mr Young said they and the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
Stewart Young would be responding, calling on the Carlisle to Cockermouth stretch of the A595 and the A591 to be included.

But he is also urging members of the public to take part in the consultation before it closes on march 19.

To view the map in full and leave feedback, visit www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposals-for-the-creation-of-a-major-road-network


Health decisions - what was agreed?

The CCG made a series of decisions in March last year that will affect which patients need to travel from Whitehaven to Carlisle in future.

They were:

  • Paediatrics: All seriously ill children will be transferred to Carlisle. The West Cumberland Hospital will retain a short stay paediatric assessment unit, for observation and treatment, and some overnight stays for those with less acute illnesses. If this proves unsustainable, all overnight paediatric beds could be centralised in Carlisle in the long term.
  • Maternity: Consultant-led maternity will be retained in Whitehaven for at least a year while efforts are main to address recruitment problems. However if this fails, consultant-led care, and potentially all births, could be centralised at the Cumberland Infirmary long term.
  • Stroke: A hyper acute stroke unit will be developed at the Cumberland Infirmary, with all possible stroke patients taken directly to Carlisle. Any who arrive in Whitehaven will be transferred. Rehabilitation services will be maintained at the West Cumberland Hospital.
  • Emergency care: The West Cumberland Hospital will retain its 24/7 A&E department. An intensive care unit will be retained at Whitehaven, but the most seriously ill patients will be transferred to Carlisle.
  • Trauma: Complex trauma and orthopedics, such as hip fractures, have already been transferred to Carlisle. This means there are already more patients travelling along the A595. Only minor trauma surgery takes place at the West Cumberland Hospital.