Staff at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) have been pulling out all the stops to ensure the safety of patients and of their colleagues is met during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Adapting quickly, staff are evolving the way they work to support the demands required.
Theatre staff at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven have set up a new Level 4 Intensive Care Unit to help battle the Coronavirus, transforming the former day surgery unit at the hospital in preparation.
Mark Holliday, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, said: “The staff as a whole have embraced what has been a whirlwind change involving a lot of challenges.
“Every department in the hospital has risen to the occasion and helped make this possible from the domestic staff to the pharmacy and everyone in between.”
Many of the trust’s health services are conducting appointments either online, over the phone or by video conferencing. Other teams have also been changing the way they work and have become extremely versatile.
Rachel Jamieson, ICC support manager, said: “There is astounding work that is currently happening between primary and community care teams. Many staff and services are swiftly relocating to accommodate necessary changes to the way that primary care and outpatient services are delivered. There is an amazing feeling of camaraderie and determination amongst the integrated teams.
“We would also like to extend our thanks to our support services who are working around the clock to help us implement changes and new systems in a very short space of time.”
The Cumberland Infirmary’s audiology manager Mike Lennon said changes had to be made to the way his department works and staff had written to patients outlining the changes. “The staff have collaborated brilliantly in more or less redesigning a service based on over 10,000 open access face to face contacts a year and dealing with some of our most vulnerable patients so that we can reach out and support them in their homes,” he said.
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) provides hospital and community health services to a population of around half a million people. It is responsible for delivering over 70 services across 15 main locations and employs more than 6,500 members of staff.
