We are deeply saddened and stand with our staff, patients and our community in mourning the death of our Queen. 

Her funeral, on Monday 19th September, has been declared a national bank holiday and in line with our colleagues across the UK we will be standing down some services on that day.

We are prioritising cancer and urgent activity and will also run routine activity where staffing allows. We will run a reduced elective operating schedule at both the Cumberland infirmary and the West Cumberland hospital.

We continue to work through the outpatient programme, confirming with staff how much capacity we can put in place and prioritising that based on clinical urgency.

Where we know clinics cannot run, they have been stood down. These include the orthodontics service, paediatrics and routine ophthalmology.

We are aiming to run partial capacity in urology, ENT, gastro, cardiology, dermatology, gynaecology and rheumatology.

Our community dental service is stood down and converting to their usual out of hours arrangements.   

Our Diabetic Eye Screening Service is running as normal. 

Integrated Care Communities are operating as a normal bank holiday – other community services are working through a plan and will contact patients as required following confirmation of that plan.

Our contact centre is in the process of contacting patients to confirm those appointments which are going ahead and to stand down those which are not. We aim to contact patients within a week to confirm a rescheduled appointment.  Please do let us know as soon as possible if you cannot make your appointment.

We are very grateful to colleagues who have agreed to come in to work so that we can continue to provide urgent treatment to those patients who need it most.

Please help us help you:

  • If you have an urgent care need over the bank holiday please don’t wait. Reach out for help by contacting NHS 111/NHS 111 online for urgent medical and dental help
  • Some local Pharmacies may have different opening hours during a bank holiday. Please search “find a pharmacy NHS” to find an open pharmacy near you
  • By re-stocking medicine cabinets, knowing when your GP practice is open and planning ahead for repeat prescriptions, you can ensure you have everything you need ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
  • You can order your medication using the NHS App, or through your GP practice, which may also have an online service.