Maryport Day Hospital celebrates a new era

Published: 23 September 2019

Sue Hayman MP cut a ribbon to mark the occasion saying how proud she was of the people of Maryport and of the staff for making sure the town has a hospital which is providing the care that the town needs.

She said: “I can’t say how proud I am to open the new day hospital here. The passion of local community in Maryport for their health service and their hospital was hugely evident in their campaign to try and save the beds and it’s great to see so many of those people her today supporting the day hospital because without that passion we might not have had that investment into this hospital and ultimately the services that are now being delivered from it.”

Around 60 members of the public attended the opening at which they were able to have a health MOT with the ward staff taking blood pressure and other checks and also the rehabilitation team undertaking falls prevention work.

A range of third sector providers were also on hand to offer a range of support and advice.

Sally Watson a Healthcare Assistant who has been at the hospital since before the inpatient ward closed said: “The new hospital is so nice, all the services are on the same floor and while before we were in the same building, it’s just so much better having the rehabilitation teams right there with us so if we think a patient needs that extra help we just have to pop along the corridor. Also having the Hub again they can help us access a range of 3^rd sector support for our patients. There’s so much support if we need it, I really like it.”

She added: “Losing the beds was very hard and we were all apprehensive but we have worked hard together and what we can deliver now is a great service.”

Trust Chairman said Robin Talbot said: “My first word of thanks is to the whole community of Maryport because a few years ago you had major concerns about the future of the hospital and what that future was, but here we are now and I hope you agree the facilities are tremendous and there’s more facilities her than we have ever had before.

“Secondly I want to thank the staff who have worked so well through what were very difficult times. You really are remarkable. Thank you.”

Professor John Howarth, deputy chief executive of the NHS Trust that runs the hospital said: “I’m genuinely pleased to be here today. My thanks go to Bill and Sharon and everyone from the Save Our Beds campaign, and to the Ewanrigg Local Trust who both helped us get a better answer for the challenges we were faced with a couple of years ago. I think that we have really shown the way in Maryport because, even though we had really difficult things to talk about, we have managed to sit in the room and talk them through together and while I know people sad about the loss of overnight beds, we really have the best alternative option keeping as much resource in Maryport.

Professor Howarth added: “I also want to that the teams on the wards who have stuck with us and have transitioned from the overnight model to the ambulatory model. Far more people are now being seen and I believe that this is just the beginning I think there are many more things that we can do here to even better serve the people of Maryport and the surrounding area.”

Zoe Larmour Maryport and Cockermouth Integrated Care Community manager explained why a celebration was in order: “The hospital has undergone a huge renovation project to upgrade the former inpatient unit to a state of the art day unit. Although the hospital never actually closed and care has been delivered from here throughout the renovation work, we felt it important to celebrate this significant step. I want to thank in particular the staff in the hospital who have shown incredible professionalism and resilience through what has been a difficult but exciting time. We are all very proud of the hospital and are looking forward to how we can develop it further to bring more services here.”

The day hospital now provides:

Support for patients 7 days a week between 8am and 8pm on the nurse lead unit.
A transfusion suite with fully reclining chairs, able to accommodate five patients at a time for therapies such as blood transfusions and IV antibiotics.
Potential to expand on the range of IV treatments available in the future.
Two clinical rooms available for dressings, venepuncture, bladder scanning, catheterisation, removal and other minor clinical interventions.
A 3 bedded ambulatory care assessment bay where patients can receive observations and ECG monitoring which will be reviewed by the on call doctor.
Improved links with the ambulance service who can now refer directly to the day hospital through the Hub, reducing unnecessary acute admissions.
A rehab centre based on site with a well-established team and fully equipped gym facilities.
The newly extended hours of service of the rehabilitation team will improve rapid response time increasing support to the local community.
The rehabilitation team will be starting a new wellbeing clinic to provide community and clinic appointments to need a review. This will be supported by a pharmacist who can review any medication concerns.

The Maryport and Cockermouth Integrated Care Community hub is also based at the hospital and through Hub a range of outpatient and other clinics are arrange at the hospital. These include: