Read our full letter here:
Open Letter to NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group and Success Regime West, North and East Cumbria
We are writing on behalf of a group of newspapers who serve the communities of West, North and East Cumbria, namely our daily newspaper the News & Star and three weeklies, the Whitehaven News, Times & Star, and The Cumberland News.
The Healthcare for the Future options have raised serious concerns in our communities. Over the past few months we have given significant coverage to these options and there has been an overwhelming response from our readers.
Thousands of people - a total of 9,532 - have signed our petition calling for a rethink of the proposals. They agree that:
- Removing consultant-led maternity care from the West Cumberland Hospital is not safe
- We cannot afford to lose beds from our community hospitals. It would put an unfair burden on patients and families
- No patients, adults or children, should have to undertake risky transfers of care
- Health chiefs, locally and nationally, have not addressed serious concerns raised across north and west Cumbria
This letter expands on these issues and explains categorically why we do not feel the proposals put forward are the best options for our communities.
Safety The Success Regime has failed to demonstrate that the preferred options put forward for maternity services, paediatrics and other urgent care are safe. No clear risk assessments have been published. The contingency plans referred to lack any detail and fail to explain what would happen to patients in different scenarios. The plans would see many women, babies, children and stroke patients being transferred 40 miles along a poor quality road. There are no examples of similar models operating successfully in an area with the same geographical challenges or population as Cumbria, so no reassurance can be given.
A growing number of current and retired consultants, GPs, nurses, midwives, ambulance staff and other local experts have raised their concerns publicly. They say they options are not safe. Several reports have been published backing up their concerns. How can the public be asked to put their faith in options when the medical staff do not?
Cumberland Infirmary We have yet to see evidence that the Cumberland Infirmary can cope with the planned influx of urgent transfers from the west. Staff there tell us the hospital is already struggling to cope, yet the wider plan is to reduce bed numbers. There have been long-standing delays with ambulance handovers and there is no explanation as to how this would be addressed. At public meetings, the panel has admitted that there is still work to be done on these issues. We would argue that this is a key factor and should have been properly evaluated before any consultation was launched. Again people are being asked to support options without these vital details.
Community hospitals Cumbria has a strong sense of community. Factors such as geography, isolation, poor transport links and deprivation mean different areas face different challenges. We need solutions that properly take these challenges into account.
Community hospitals are a key part of the existing network and hugely valued in the areas they service. Yet the plan across the board is to close beds and move care into the home. There is also no detail as to how this increased home care would be delivered, particularly in rural areas, how it would be funded, or who would deliver it.
For those who can’t be cared for at home, they will have to go to a hospital many miles from home, away from their support network. This will cause significant problems for both patients and families. We believe the options put forward by the Success Regime would have a detrimental impact on many communities. Alternative plans have instead been drawn up by those communities where beds are threatened, tailored to their local area. We strongly urge decision-makers to look at these carefully.
Staffing and finance We have been repeatedly told by the Success Regime that the consultation is not about money - that current services are fragile due to difficulties recruiting. Yet those working in the services tell us the root of this problem is the uncertainty that has been hanging over these services for many years, and lack of resources. With increased higher education links now being established, and medical training underway in west Cumbria, our communities are asking for more time. The same applies to community hospitals, where nursing posts are now being filled thanks to a fresh approach to recruitment and several hospitals now being seen as “safe”.
We would call on decision-makers to listen to the advice of local professionals, commit to providing consultant-led maternity, paediatrics and other vital services in Whitehaven, as well as safeguarding all of the community hospital beds, and hold innovative discussions about how we can staff them. We also call on them to lobby Government for a fairer funding package that properly reflects Cumbria’s geographical and population challenges. Ultimately this is where the problems started and will continue until it is addressed.
Bigger picture Integrated Care Communities have been hailed throughout the consultation as the answer to many problems, including bed blocking. While we are not opposed to a more integrated care system, the plans again lack vital detail. We have widely reported problems in the Cumbrian care sector, including difficulties getting even privately-funded home care in rural areas and a lack of respite beds in care homes. Nationally social care also faces huge challenges. It is widely feared that beds will be closed without support services being available, resulting in people being sent home without adequate care. Although the Success Regime tells us social care is a partner, Cumbria County Council has formally called for the current proposals to be scrapped.
The consultation document also fails to address the impact of major future developments, such as the planned nuclear power station in west Cumbria. Until the full scale of this development alone is known we feel it would be premature to downgrade any health services in the west of the county and call for high level discussions on this issue.
Serious, and incredibly important, concerns have also been raised about the impact the changes will have on unpaid carers. Local carers organisations tell us there has been little or no dialogue with them throughout the consultation and they are already seeing carers in crisis even before these changes are rolled out. Third sector groups are also concerned that the preferred options will impact largely on the most disadvantaged. This cannot be allowed to happen.
Consultation The lack of detail in the options makes it virtually impossible for those taking part in the consultation to make a clear choice. They are being asked to score and comment on options without the facts they need, and readers tell us that is why they haven’t filled out the document. In many cases the options also do not include retaining the status quo. We hope this will be taken into account when analysing feedback from the public.
Success Regime When the Success Regime first came to Cumbria, in September 2015, Sir Neil McKay promised that his aim was to take a fresh look at the challenges facing the NHS in our area. He spoke of honest conversations and tough decisions, but that these would be taken alongside the public.
Ahead of the consultation there was an extensive “engagement” period, during which serious concerns were raised about the emerging options being put forward. They included fears about the impact of downgrading consultant-led maternity, higher risk paediatrics and other urgent care at West Cumberland Hospital, and the impact of patients, carers and visitors. There was also a strong plea to retain community hospital beds. Local campaigners, health staff and the general public put significant time and effort into attending meetings, coming up with ideas and filling out responses in a bid to be part of this fresh approach, working together. There was a real will in the local area to find solutions that would stabilise services for the future.
Yet when the Healthcare for the Future options were published in September, very little has changed. It seems the Success Regime has ignored all of this good work and ploughed on regardless with the options it wanted from the start.
As a result of all these factors we strongly believe that there needs to be a serious rethink. No decisions should be made until all of these issues have been properly addressed. We would urge you to listen to those using the services and the staff working on the frontline. Unless they have confidence in the options, the consultation has failed.
Yours sincerely
Chris Story
Associate Editor
This letter accompanies documentation handed in as part of the Healthcare for the Future consultation, including all responses to our petition and a dossier of all coverage across our joint titles throughout the consultation process.
Responses included:
- Online signatures: 3338
- Paper petition signatures: 4902
- Individual paper forms: 1292
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here