The Health Secretary has announced that hospital staff, patients and visitors in hospitals which are part of the North Cumbria and Cumbria, Northumbria, Tyne and Wear Foundation Trust will benefit from refurbished wards, brand new electrical upgrades and upgraded ventilation systems.
The Government has announced allocations of £600 million to tackle critical maintenance work in hospitals across England, including £2,850,000 projects in hospitals across Cumbria.
Local hospitals will receive £2.8 million to carry out the work, which could include building new or refurbishing buildings to deliver key services, upgrades to electrical infrastructure, improvements to ventilation systems, works to improve fire safety and the replacement of hospital lifts. The work will be completed by March 2021.
The money is part of a £1.5 billion announced by the Prime Minister in the summer to level up hospital infrastructure across the NHS. While £600 million will be spent on these critical maintenance upgrades, the remainder will be spent on modernising mental health facilities, expanding A&E capacity and improving infection control ahead of winter.
As last year’s General Election, the Conservatives promised to invest in the NHS to ensure NHS staff have world-class facilities to provide care for patients. Since August last year, the Government has confirmed £850 million to upgrade 20 hospitals and £3.7 billion to help deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. Last month’s Spending Review announced a dedicated £1.2 billion for NHS new hospitals in 2021-22. Good progress has also been made on the Conservatives’ pledge of 50,000 more nurses by 2025 – with the latest statistics showing there are already 14,800 more nurses in the NHS than a year ago.
Mark Jenkinson MP for Workington constituency said “I am delighted that our local hospitals in Cumbria will benefit from Government funding to carry out vital maintenance work over the coming months.
“These crucial projects will deliver immediate benefits and provide NHS staff with the facilities they need to provide world-class care to patients, helping our NHS to build back better after the pandemic.”
