After the last 14 years, mental health services are on their knees.
We need more staff, more early intervention to stop people reaching crisis point and enough acute inpatient beds for those who need them.
Before the election I called for a new community mental health hub in West Cumbria and I’m delighted that one will open this year in Whitehaven. This will be a 24/7 service anyone can access without a referral which will provide a range of support services.
However, this should be an addition to and not a replacement for existing services.
Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in Cumbria and across the North East, voted today (30/04/2025) to close the Yewdale Ward at West Cumberland Hospital. This is the only inpatient acute mental health ward in West Cumbria. The trust proposes to replace this provision with more beds at its Carleton Clinic in Carlisle and four short term beds at the new community hub in Whitehaven.
The trust have failed to conduct a full, formal public consultation and have not laid out how they plan to reduce demand for acute inpatient beds in Cumbria. I am now calling on the North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board to step in and launch an independent investigation into the process followed by CNTW.
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Josh MacAlister MP 