One of the biggest frustrations I hear from people across West Cumbria is not about the treatment they receive from the NHS – it’s about getting through the front door in the first place.
The 8am rush to phone the GP. The struggle to find an NHS dentist. Long waits in A&E because people have nowhere else to turn. For too many years, those everyday frustrations became accepted as normal. They shouldn’t have been.
That’s why I’m encouraged that new national patient survey results show we are beginning to turn the tide. Nearly 77% of people now rate their GP experience as good, more than half of patients say it’s easy to contact their practice – a significant improvement on two years ago – and more people are successfully getting NHS dental appointments than before.
Of course, nobody is pretending the job is finished. We still have far too many people waiting too long for care, and our emergency services remain under real pressure. But after years when things seemed to move only in the wrong direction, we’re finally seeing genuine signs of progress.
Here in West Cumbria, that progress is becoming increasingly visible too.
Hospital waiting lists in West Cumbria have fallen by around 15%. We’re still under-doctored but we have more GPs than we did two years ago and more are on the way. Three new NHS dental practices are helping tackle the area’s long-standing shortage of dentists. Our new Community Diagnostic Centre has seen over 30,000 patients in its first year, allowing more people to receive scans and tests closer to home, while expanded Same Day Emergency Care services at West Cumberland Hospital are helping patients avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
One of the most encouraging developments has been staffing at West Cumberland Hospital.
Recruitment has been one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare in our area for many years, but real progress is now being made. A major Consultant recruitment drive has seen the fill rate increase from 61% to 68% – and a new campaign is launching later this year. 17 new nurses were recently recruited, meaning a vacancy rate below 5% for the trust now – and more recruitment is underway. And 30 new healthcare support workers, some of whom will progress into nursing, were also recently hired.
As your local MP, I’ve spent a great deal of time working with NHS leaders, ministers and frontline staff to keep making the case for West Cumbria. Whether it’s pushing for investment in GP surgeries and new hospital units, supporting recruitment, or helping unblock projects like the reopening and expansion of Griffin Close GP Practice in Frizington, my focus has been on making sure our area gets its fair share.
Our NHS still has a mountain to climb. But after spending too many years slipping backwards, we are now moving in the right direction again.
Josh MacAlister MP 