Farron: Struggling A&E must be relieved by Urgent Care Centre in Kendal

Following yet another plea yesterday for patients to stay away from the A&E in Lancaster, local MP Tim Farron has repeated his call for an Urgent Care Centre in Kendal to help relieve the pressure.

The Morecambe Bay NHS Trust yesterday released another press release calling on the public to "consider using other healthcare services rather than Accident and Emergency". Over the last few months the Trust has repeatedly issued similar calls, urging the public to stay away from A&E at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

Tim is calling for the Primary Care Assessment Centre (PCAS) at Westmorland General Hospital to be upgraded so it can deal with more severe cases and help to relieve the pressure on the hospital at Lancaster. Tim has raised the issue with the Trust on various occasions, and has written to them about his plans.

Tim said: "It is alarming that this sort of announcement from the Trust is becoming all too common, even before the worst of the winter sets in. It is clear that our A&E can't cope, and this situation will only get worse.

"I am calling for an Urgent Care Centre to be set up at Westmorland General Hospital. This would not only help to relieve congestion at Lancaster, it would also mean that local residents and ambulances would not have to travel so far to take patients to emergency services.

"At a time when the NHS needs to make millions of pounds' worth of savings, this is a simple step which would improve efficiency, improve convenience, and save money. An Urgent Care Centre in Kendal makes sense for the NHS and makes sense for patients."