Keswick’s Urgent Treatment Centre opening hours will look a little different this week because of temporary staffing pressures across our Urgent Treatment Centres in Penrith and Keswick.

Keswick UTC is usually open every day from 8.30am until 6pm however it will close a little earlier (4.30pm) on Monday (18th), Wednesday (20th), Thursday (21st) and Friday (22nd) and will be closed for the day on Tuesday 19th, Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August:

Opening hours this week:

  • Monday: 8:30am to 4:30pm
  • Tuesday: Closed
  • Wednesday: 8:30am to 4:30pm
  • Thursday: 8:30am to 4:30pm
  • Friday: 8:30am to 4:30pm
  • Saturday: Closed
  • Sunday: Closed

The Trust has had to take this decision due to a combination of vacant posts and some unforeseen staff absences.

During the closures, the UTC at Penrith and A&E departments at the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital are still open as usual.  The opening hours for Penrith UTC are 8am until 10pm.

Penrith UTC is equipped to diagnose and treat many of the most common ailments. A&E have to prioritise the most serious cases first so if your condition is less serious, but cannot wait until you can see a GP, a UTC may be the best place for you.

Imran Devji, Chief Operating Officer said, “Our priority is always to provide safe, high-quality care for our patients and we are closely monitoring our ability to operate all our UTC sites safely and effectively. On occasions, this has meant we have needed to temporarily close Keswick Urgent Treatment Centre to make sure we have safe staffing to deliver the expected level of care to our local communities. We acknowledge that this is not the level of service we want to provide for our local communities.

“We appreciate that this may cause some inconvenience, and we are grateful for your patience and understanding while we work hard to restore our full service as quickly as possible. Recruitment is already well underway, and we are making progress in strengthening our team.”

Use our emergency care hub to keep an eye on waiting times across our departments: ncic.nhs.uk/locations/emergency-care-hub