NCIC News
All the latest from the Trust | March 2025
Intro from the Chair
Hello and welcome to our newsletter for foundation trust members and the wider community.
The months are flying by and don’t forget the clocks spring forward an hour on Sunday. It’s nice to see the lighter mornings and nights and the slightly warmer days.
Our new Chief Operating Officer, Imran Devji, starts next week so we are all looking forward to welcoming him on board.
Work continues on all of our major building projects which, once complete, will make a huge difference to our patients and communities.
And finally, Eid Mubarak to all colleagues and communities celebrating this weekend.
Until next time, with best wishes,
Steven Morgan
Chair
How we are performing
Our latest performance data was published earlier this month and shows a mixed picture across our services.
Cancer performance
Over the last 12 months our cancer performance has significantly improved, although we still have work to do to meet two of the three national targets.
In January, 68.4% patients received their diagnosis or discharge within 28 days of an urgent referral, this is an improvement of 5.6% since January 2024 (the National target is 75%)
70.4% patients received treatment within 62 days of their urgent suspected cancer referral, which is an increase of 14.6% since January 2024 (the National target is 85%.
Almost everyone (96.6%) began their treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat (the National target is 96%).
Emergency care
Patients were seen more quickly across our emergency services in February than in January. February saw 8,088 patients attend our A&E departments, which is less than in January and there were less emergency admissions than the month before. Just over half (53.3%) of patients were seen within the 4 hour standard at our A&E departments and almost all patients (99.1%) were seen within four hours at our Urgent Treatment Centres in Penrith and Keswick.
Waiting lists
Our diagnostic waiting list has increased slightly in January, currently sitting at 9,115 however the percentage of patients waiting more than 6 weeks has improved for the seventh month in a row falling to 7.4%. The waiting list for those who have been referred for treatment (39,266) has increased, despite over 7,000 patients beginning their treatment with us. The amount of people waiting longer than 18 weeks has worsened slightly, but there has been a reduction in patients who are waiting over 52, 65 and 78 weeks.
You can see the latest A&E wait times on our website.
Update on NCIC's building projects
Our building projects are all taking shape and coming to fruition to improve healthcare for our patients.
The Endoscopy Unit at the Cumberland Infirmary is nearing completion and also the new Urology Investigations Unit is almost ready for occupation.
Building work and ground preparatory work continues opposite A&E at CIC to make way for a new Urgent Treatment Centre and later this year the Community Diagnostic Centre in Workington will also be complete.
There is currently a temporary reduction of 115 parking spaces at the Cumberland Infirmary because of some of the building work. We anticipated that we would have an additional 28 patient and visitor spaces in Car Park A from this month, however unfortunately there will be a short delay in these spaces becoming available. This is due to an unforeseeable delay to the new Endoscopy Unit build completion, which is now expected to be complete before the end of Spring.
Update on 0-19 service transfer
Next week, around 120 staff from the 0-19 services for children and families will transfer to Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust. This follows news that the Trust would not bid for the contract for 0-19 healthy child programme commissioned by Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness Councils because we did not believe we could deliver the increased and changing standards with the resources available. The Healthy Child Programme covers the following services:
- 0-5 Health Visiting Service
- 5-19 Public Health Nursing
- Strengthening Families
From the 1st April, these services can be contacted through a single telephone number for each council area:
Cumberland Council area
03003 049029 between 9am and 5pm;
Westmorland & Furness area
03003 049039 between 8.30am and 5pm.
The Trust is also commissioned by the North East and North Cumbria ICB to provide a range of children and young people’s services in the south of the County. This includes community paediatrics, children’s speech and language, children’s physio, children’s occupational therapy and children’s community nursing. These services are not affected.
Chief Executive Lyn Simpson has written to the staff who are transferring to Harrogate to thank them for their dedication and wish them well as they transfer.
NCIC accredited for infant feeding support
NCIC has been making improvements to the infant feeding support and facilities available to women and families.
In addition to making infant feeding facilities available to patients and visitors at the Cumberland Hospital and West Cumberland Hospital, maternity services have also achieved stage 2 of the Baby Friendly Initiative.
The Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation highlights how well maternity services support families with feeding and developing close and loving relationships so that all babies get the best possible start in life.
Staff survey results remain static
The National Staff Survey results for 2024 show that staff experience at NCIC has remained fairly static and highlighted areas where there is more work to do. We saw a big increase in the response rate this year with over 3700 people completing it which was an increase of over 6 per cent and is 3 per cent above the national average.
In total there were 101 questions, of which, 81 questions stayed the same, 2 questions showed significant improvement since 2023, and 17 questions have declined in their scores. Although there has been a decline in the scores for the three key questions compared to last year’s results, the improvement from 2022 to 2023 remains substantial, indicating that while we may have taken a step back, we have not returned to the previous scores seen in 2022.
Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating
This weekend marks the end of Ramadan and it is celebrated with Eid-al-Fitr – the festival of fast-breaking.
This year, Ramadan gifts of water and dates were made available to those marking the holy month.
A special prayer and sermon are held the morning of Eid day, followed by a community celebration usually in a park or large hall. Food, games and presents for children are important parts of the festivities, as friends and family spend the day socialising, eating and reuniting with old acquaintances. The greeting Eid Mubarak means “blessed holiday!”
People also perform Zakat al-Fitr, and give to the poor, whether it be money, food or time.
We wish all our Muslim colleagues and communities a Happy Eid-al-Fitr and we hope that you enjoy celebrating after your month of fasting, prayer and reflection.
Neurodiversity Celebration Week
We marked Neurodiversity Celebration Week by inviting Team Autism into our atrium at CIC to chat to staff, patients and visitors.
They brought along a VR headset which gives people an insight into what life and situations can be like for autistic people.
Some of our governors attended a Triple A project event in Penrith with other agencies and some of our teams hosted their own staff training events highlighting neurodiversity.
Internally, we shared some staff case studies and signposted colleagues to our Workplace Adjustments Guide and passports.
Member and Governor update
Governor message from Sharon Stamper, public governor for Allerdale
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In 2021 I had an accident which led to an operation, I was stuck in bed for nearly 12 months and unable to volunteer in the roles I was doing previously. This led to me losing confidence and experiencing really bad anxiety. Although I was nervous when I first started, now I can mingle in meetings and being involved as part of the governor’s council has really helped to improve my anxiety, self-esteem and confidence. I’ve enjoyed finding out more in my role, how much it actually costs to provide healthcare and the good and not so good experiences that people have had in our care. I’m keen that the NHS makes more use of Maryport Hospital and explore what other services can be provided from there. Whatever area you live in, I would encourage you to join as a member. The more people who get involved the more that local people can have a say in what happens in their area. Becoming a member was also really important for me, as it led to me being elected to join the Governors Council, which has helped with my anxiety, self-esteem and confidence. Sharon Stamper |
I joined the Governor’s Council in October 2023 as a public governor after I saw an email as a trust member that they were looking for governors in the area that I live. I’m a former town councillor for Maryport and have volunteered for many years in a range of health and social care organisations.Governor questions
Eric Martlew, public governor for Carlisle, asked about hearing aid wait times. He said: “I have been asked to find out how long the waiting time is, from being referred for a hearing test, to being fitted with an aid if it is found necessary.”
The Trust response states: “The Trust has some variance on waiting times depending on which clinic patients have decided on for the treatment. Penrith wait times may tend to be greater than average as there is only one room, and the demand for a Cumberland Infirmary appointment is always high. Within those constraints, the Trust completes the majority of referrals within 18 weeks.”
Become a member
Anyone living in Cumbria over the age of 14 can become a member, you can choose how much or how little you want to be involved – join today.
Concerns or comments
If you have any concerns or comments please contact your governors on the email below. We are here to raise any concerns on your behalf. More information on the members of the Governors’ Council and their role can be found on our website. If you have any comments or suggestions please contact us via the email below: AskYourGovernor@ncic.nhs.uk
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