New £15 million facility under construction at Cumberland Infirmary

A new £15 million facility is being built at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.

Construction work is underway on the new endoscopy unit at the infirmary which is set to be able to treat more patients in the county.

The Cumberland Infirmary facility is set to see 99% of patients receive their diagnostic procedure in six weeks and a further capacity for an extra 30 lists per week.

Speaking to ITV Border, Dayat Karat, Clinical Director, North Cumbria NHS Trust said: “Our current facilities date back almost 25 years and we have three rooms at the moment in endoscopy, only one of which will be sufficient size to meet national criteria.

"The problem is that the demand for endoscopy has increased year on year over the last 25 years, and we are now in a position where we really can't meet that demand in terms of the patients we need to see but also in terms of the quality of the service that's expected in this day and age.

“We have struggled now for a long time to provide the service we aspire to provide and having this facility will mean that we will have all the tools we need to provide a first class service for people the population of north Cumbria."

Excavation of the original site is now complete and retaining wall structures are now starting to go up.

Shellie O’Connor, Chief Operating Officer said: “It's a faster way of building it, it takes off quite a lot of time and disruption to the hospital sites.

"A traditional construction would take a hell of a lot longer. You'd have all the equipment in, all the deliveries in.

"We are talking about driving the waiting lists down and get people seen and into these diagnostic facilities."

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