Cumbria County Council has been working closely with Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) to develop an extension on Inglewood care home in Wigton. Work on the project is now complete.
The new purpose built unit will;
- enable the provision of NHS and respite beds together locally and
- support the rehabilitation of individuals to move back home to continue to live independently.
This project is part of both organisations’ wider plans to join up and co-locate health and care services within Cumbria.
The new unit is an extension to the current building and provides two respite beds, as well as six NHS beds that were agreed as part of the plans with the community following the closure of the in-patient beds in Wigton.
During the works additional NHS interim beds have been provided at Park Lodge care home, Aspatria and Parkside care home, Maryport to ensure the availability of support for individuals requiring interim care provision.
Councillor Patricia Bell, Cabinet Member for Health and Care Services said: “This is a really positive piece of partnership working between Cumbria County Council and CPFT. The project shows how working together, we can pool resources and work much more efficiently to improve the lives of people in Cumbria.”
Professor John Howarth deputy chief executive at Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “The work at Wigton is part of the wider community hospital work that we are undertaking across the north of the county. We have already moved to a new way of working in the community in Alston and Maryport and we are undertaking work to refurbish Keswick hospital currently with Brampton and Penrith also planned for refurbishment.
“The extension at Inglewood will mean that we are able to provide high quality NHS beds in the local community for those people who need them.
“Access to these beds, increased community services, development of the Integrated Care Community (ICC) hub at Wigton hospital and the development of the day hospital there, means that we are now bringing more services to the local community.
“This means people are not having to travel as far for their care and there is less pressure on the main hospital services. We are excited about how this model of care can be even further developed.”
Eveline Dugdale, chair of the Wigton league of friends said: “I would like to thank the people of Wigton and Solway who have continued to support The League of Friends through what has been a very trying time.
“Our nurses tell us they are looking after more people in their own homes and feel this new system (integrated care community) is settling down and working well. Many thanks also to the dedicated staff for their perseverance.”
Planning for the extension was approved in February 2019, at which point the tender process began. The contractors who won the bid and carried out the works are Day-Cummins (Consultant) and Thomas Armstrong (Contractors). Work started on 3rd June and completed on 10th October.
In addition to the planned extension works Cumbria County Council took the opportunity to carry out some essential maintenance work within the home so as to minimise disruption for residents. These maintenance works include window replacements, fire alarm replacement and external resurfacing.
