The development of network of five Community Recovery Centres as part of Cumbria’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and plans to provide additional capacity so patients can be discharged from hospital are continuing.
Agencies from health, local authorities, care, emergency services, military, education and industry have come together to create the centres at leisure centres in Carlisle, Whitehaven, Kendal and Penrith, and at Furness Academy in Barrow-in-Furness.
The Community Recovery Centres have been designed as part of the county’s plans to provide additional capacity so that patients can be discharged from hospital. Both NHS trusts in the county have already significantly increased the bed capacity. The centre will be used for patients who are medically fit for discharge and are well enough to leave hospital, but who need a little extra support to get back to their home. Community Recovery Centre beds will ONLY be used if needed.
In the north of the county, work is underway to develop the centres in Carlisle and Whitehaven which will offer up to an additional 120 beds. The site in Penrith will be kept in reserve.
In South Cumbria, the Community Recovery Centres at Kendal Leisure Centre and Furness Academy in Barrow-in-Furness will offer up to an additional 142 beds.
Each centre will be equipped with hospital standard beds and screens to help ensure the privacy and dignity of patients, and will be staffed by existing NHS and care professionals and volunteers. All will be provided with the recommended Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for this type of facility.
Working with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NHS England will ensure the care in the units will meet the required standards for this type of provision.
Work to determine how many volunteers will be needed and how they will be deployed is ongoing, but initially the centres will be looking for people who may be able to support registered healthcare professionals, such as by serving food and drinks, supporting patients to walk to the bathroom and helping support communication between patients and families.
Anyone interested in volunteering should express an interest through the Support Cumbria website – www.supportcumbria.org.uk
Peter Rooney, Chief Operating Officer at NHS North Cumbria CCG, said: “On behalf of all NHS staff in north Cumbria I would like to thank everyone in Cumbria for continuing social distancing. This is the best way everyone can support the local NHS. We are developing our Community Recovery Centres in Carlisle and Whitehaven, and we will ensure the equipment, facilities and staff needed for the centres will be in place before any patients move there.
“Creating these centres is a huge team effort and the work required to transform sports halls into places appropriate to provide care to a high standard is significant. We would like to thank the Local Resilience Forum and all the local partners supporting this work.”