We take a look back at some of the things that have happened at NCIC in 2021 in our Review of the Year.
January
At the turn of the year we were in lockdown, the snow arrived and the vaccine roll out continued. The Trust moved to Opel Level 4.
The organisation faced a challenging time as Covid numbers kept on rising and routine services were suspended. Volunteers were deployed across the Trust.
A £40 million investment to deliver phase 2 of the West Cumberland Hospital (WCH) redevelopment was approved by NHS Improvement.
February
Covid patient numbers dropped slightly as the vaccine roll out continued.
The Trust marked LGBTQ+ History Month to promote equality and diversity.
The first of our International recruits arrived at CIC after completing their training in Crewe. They were given their induction and settled into their new jobs on the wards.
We celebrated our apprentices with National Apprenticeship Week.
March
We launched BeNCIC - an initiative about how we do things around here.
At the end of the month lockdown eased. Work around recovery started.
Popular artist Charlie Mackesy donated two of his infamous prints to NCIC.
Our Covid Story part two: We created a 5 minute video to document and highlight the past 12 months.
More than 500 people took part in a clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of treatments for COVID-19.
April
At the beginning of April nearly 200,000 vaccinations had been administered in north Cumbria since the programme started in December. The Trust’s teams had delivered 31,000 of these vaccines.
Thousands of thank you cards have been delivered for our staff thanks to the thoughtfulness of one man. Cameron Stewart from Penrith wanted to do something to say thank you to the NHS in Cumbria and decided to start a campaign to get thank you cards for staff.
May
An extension to the Same Day Emergency Care Unit at WCH opened to patients.
The £1.5m extension, which is a modular unit, was created to improve patient care and experience when patients are being assessed to decide on their treatment plan.
The Trust’s sexual health services are now able to prescribe a pill to people at high risk of contracting HIV.
June
The Trust held its first Learn by Lived Experience session with nurse Rachael Ridley as it marked LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
The quality of the Hospital at Night (H@N) service, including experience of doctors in training at the Cumberland Infirmary, has underwent a complete transformation following significant improvements by the Hospital at Night (H@N) team.
The latest group of international nursing recruits arrived in west Cumbria.
July
A memorial was unveiled at the West Cumberland Hospital in memory of those who lost their lives to Covid-19.
A new state-of-the-art simulation suite opened in the Education Centre at CIC.
August
A new £35m cancer centre on the site of the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle welcomed its first patients.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid visited the new cancer centre.
September
The Trust’s charity was relaunched. It is now called North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity.
The Be the Artist exhibition opened at the Florence Arts Centre in Egremont.
October
Diverse Cumbria awards were held at the Halston Hotel in Carlisle. Nurse Rachael Ridley and our International recruits were nominated in different categories.
November
The Trust opened its School of Generalism.
The first cohort had 21 learners from a broad range of backgrounds. Its aim is to simplify language used and skills set so everyone can work together more effectively with a common understanding.
The Trust held its second online AMM with the CCG.
A new mobile endoscopy unit opened at the Cumberland Infirmary.The £1.2m modular unit will aim to see 500 patients a month over a six month period. The procedures that take place in the unit will help diagnose and monitor a range of different conditions.The waiting list for the Endoscopy services has increased due to the impact of Covid-19 and also because advances in the service means there is more demand for it across more conditions.
Restricted visiting was re-introduced. Visiting had been paused as a result of Covid-19.
The new omicron variant of Covid-19 emerged.
Long service awards were relaunched.
December
Storm Arwen hit and caused problems for our district and community teams. But they battled on and overcame adversity.
The Trust marked one year since the first vaccination was delivered at WCH.
More than 46 per cent of staff completed the staff survey.
Booster jabs were rolled out as the new variant of Covid – Omicron - took hold.