A Cumbrian MP has labelled the decision to close West Cumbria’s in-patient mental health ward as a betrayal of the area.
Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven & Workington, said he was angry and frustrated that the North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board had decided not to act on recommendations from an independent review it had commissioned.
Mr MacAlister had pressed for the review after the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust announced it was reviewing Yewdale ward at the West Cumberland Hospital and expand its beds in Carlisle.
The trust said the 16-bed ward was no longer fit for purpose.
While at the time of the announcement of the review, 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.
The independent review 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.
It recommended 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.
However, Mr MacAlister said, following a meeting between the commissioning board and the Conservative chairman of Cumberland Council’s health scrutiny committee, the ICB has decided not to act on the recommendations and allow the closure to go ahead unchallenged, despite overwhelming opposition from the people of West Cumbria.
Mr MacAlister said: “I was extremely angry and frustrated to receive a letter from the ICB confirming that they have decided not to act on the recommendation of the independent review I secured which advised that they force Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust to rerun their decision making and consultation process – as it was flawed from the start.
“I wrote to the health scrutiny committee imploring them to support my effort to have the ICB take this action but I received no response from the committee’s chairman.
“I am very disappointed that they have decided to act against advice and the community of West Cumbria and allow CNTW to get away with running a flawed and seemingly predetermined process to close Yewdale ward. This is a betrayal of West Cumbria.
“I’ll be raising this with health ministers and seeking to ensure that any future attempt to change health services in West Cumbria must go through a full and fair decision making process, requiring consideration of all possible options and extensive formal public engagement and consultation.
“However, I fear this is sadly the end of the road for our effort to prevent the closure at this time of Yewdale ward.”
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.
