Healthwatch Report Commissioned by the Success Regime
n 2015–2016 the West, North and East Cumbria NHS Success Regime consulted on a programme of changes that included the proposed closure of in‑patient beds at three community hospitals — Maryport, Wigton and Alston (the Ruth Lancaster James). The Success Regime did not run that engagement itself. It commissioned Healthwatch Cumbria to do so. Healthwatch Cumbria delivered an extensive engagement programme from December 2015 to the end of April 2016, using questionnaires and an online survey. The University of Cumbria carried out the analysis, and a published report was issued on 1 April 2016. Crucially, interim reports were provided to Success Regime work streams during that period — meaning Healthwatch Cumbria's intelligence was feeding directly into the deliberations of the people who took the closure decision.
The published report presents findings both by topic (community hospitals, acute medicine, maternity, children's services, mental health, GP services and so on) and by locality — and Alston was one of the localities.