Tim calls for more services to be brought back to Westmorland General

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has today written to the Interim Chief Executive of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) Eric Morton asking him to use the current review of the hospital trust to bring back services to Westmorland General.

Over the last few months campaigners have worked with the hospital board and secured new services for Kendal. Westmorland General now boasts new mental health services, a new renal unit and a chemotherapy centre too.

Tim is leading the fight to bring Radiotherapy services to Kendal but he has today called on hospital management to bring even more services back to the much loved hospital.

Tim has suggested to the trust that they should move more planned surgical operations to Westmorland General as a start.

Currently the trust is constructing a temporary two floor unit on the Royal Lancaster Infirmary site, at great cost, to house four wards and act as an Acute Medical Unit due to pressures at theLancastersite. The new wards will be in place for 12-24 months whilst the Trust works with patients, the public, staff, Clinical Commissioning Groups and other stakeholders to plan what the future of services acrossMorecambeBaywill look like.

The new management team at the hospital are now instigating major reviews and a turnaround plan. Both the CQC and Monitor, the two major health regulators, recently intervened and forced major changes at the trust. They published a diagnostic review; a governance review; and the review of the outpatients follow up appointments issue. Following these reviews, experts continue to work with the Trust to design detailed action plans to address issues identified.

Tim said: "During the recent crisis at the hospital trust I suggested one way to alleviate pressure would be to move services from the crowded Lancaster site to Westmorland General as a step towards fixing some of the many problems being highlighted at the hospital trust. I want them to use the opportunity of a fresh start that these major reviews provide to bring back even more services to our hospital.

"In the last few months we have seen the return of services and our successful campaigns which have brought new services such as our excellent new chemotherapy centre to Westmorland General but I know we can bring even more. We must keep campaigning together to win these services and continue to improve our hospital."