A call has been made for health chiefs to step in over plans to close West Cumbria’s mental health in-patient ward.
Yewdale Ward at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven was put under review by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust.
The trust said the 16-bed ward was no longer fit for purpose.
While it said no decision had been made to close the ward, a campaign was launched after people feared that would be the outcome.
In May, the trust announced the ward would close.
Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven & Workington, has criticised the trust’s handling of the ward’s future and its review.
He said an independent review, commissioned by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, found:
- The trust failed to meaningfully involve patients and the public at an early stage, raising serious doubts about whether legal duties to involve were properly discharged.
- The options appraisal was incomplete and one-sided: The trust did not fully consider or present alternative ways of keeping mental health beds in West Cumbria.
- Engagement was carried out too late and created a perception that decisions were already predetermined, undermining trust in the process.
- No comprehensive travel impact assessment was undertaken, despite the closure meaning patients and families would have to travel 40 miles to Carlisle – a move that risks worsening health inequalities.
- There was a lack of clarity with Cumberland Council’s health scrutiny committee, raising concerns over whether statutory consultation duties were met.
- The review recommends that the process must be rerun in full, with proper consideration of all options, meaningful involvement of patients and families, a comprehensive travel impact assessment, and clear agreement with local democratic scrutiny.
The board will meet with Cumberland Council’s health scrutiny committee in the coming weeks to seek their view on the recommendations before deciding how to proceed.
Mr MacAlister said: “This review confirms what people here in West Cumbria have feared all along – the process was unfair, rushed, and one-sided.
“Patients, families and elected representatives weren’t genuinely involved. Alternatives weren’t properly explored. The impact on those who can least afford it – carers, families, people in crisis – wasn’t fully considered.
“Closing Yewdale Ward on the back of such a flawed process is unacceptable.
“The integrated care board must now step in and get the trust to rerun this process. “West Cumbria deserves mental health services that are safe, accessible, and shaped with local people – not decisions handed down from above.
“I hope councillors will agree with me and urge the board to implement the report’s recommendations in full.”
Why was Yewdale Ward reviewed by the trust?
The trust operates Yewdale ward, with 16 mixed-gender beds and Carlisle’s Carleton Clinic, which has 10 male beds and 10 female beds. There is also a trust-wide psychiatric intensive care facility in Sunderland.The trust said it had invested in the Carleton Clinic, which will see an increase in beds from 20 to 32.
In October last year, Yewdale ward had 14 patients.
The trust said that was an 87.5% occupancy rate; all 14 patients on the ward are from north Cumbria.
Since April, 24% of north Cumbria residents requiring an adult acute admission, were admitted into Yewdale ward, with 76% of Cumbria patients admitted into other wards across the trust.
The trust said it had seen a ‘steady reduction’ in out of area beds being used over the past 12 months and has now reached a consistent position of zero inappropriate ‘out of area’ placements.
An inappropriate out of area treatment is considered to be when an individual is admitted to a unit that does not form part of the usual local network of services – in Cumbria’s instance, the usual network includes Northumberland and Tyne & Wear as the mental health trust runs services across the entire region.
