NCIC News

All the latest from the Trust | January 30, 2026

Intro from the Chair

Hello and welcome to our newsletter for foundation trust members and the wider community.

I know it is nearly the end of January but Happy New Year.

As you will have seen it has been a very busy start to 2026 with all the hospitals very full due to normal winter pressures. Please do your part in making sure you keep yourselves and our patients safe by following infection prevention measures.

This week I was delighted to see first-hand the new entrance for our urgent and services at CIC. The new space looks great and will make a huge difference to our staff and patient experience. 

In December the medical students from Pears Cumbria Medical School undertook their first clinical placement in the trust – we hope you enjoyed your experience and look forward to welcoming you back as you continue your training with us.

Until next time,

Teresa Griffiths CBE ARRC
Interim Chair

New A&E entrance and waiting area opens   

It’s been all systems go this week as the entrance to the Emergency Department (A&E) at the Cumberland Infirmary moved to a new waiting area.

The entrance has switched back to where the previous A&E entrance used to be – at the side of the hospital, close to where the ambulance bays are located. The entrance now leads to a new waiting area for A&E.

Since April last year, patients have been accessing the Emergency Department via the main atrium entrance. This was to allow building work to take place on a new Urgent Treatment Centre, but on Wednesday, the new entrance and waiting area was ready to welcome patients.  The UTC will open to patients in the Spring.

NCIC launches WhatsApp channel for important updates 

We’ve launched a WhatsApp Channel to make it easier for you to get important updates straight to your phone.

Social media feeds can be busy, and sometimes our posts don’t show up right away. Our WhatsApp Channel cuts through the noise and shares only the most important, time-sensitive information, such as service updates and urgent healthcare alerts.

Why follow us on WhatsApp?

• No clutter: just clear, important updates without extra noise. 
• Easy to use: the messages appear in the WhatsApp app you already use every day. 
• Private: followers stay anonymous and no personal information is shared. 
• For everyone: WhatsApp is popular across all age groups and communities. 

We’ll still use Facebook and Instagram to share stories and connect with our community, but our WhatsApp Channel gives you a quick and easy way to get the key information you need. 

Just tap Follow to join, you won’t get messages from other followers, and you can leave at any time. 

Follow the NCIC WhatsApp Channel today

How are we doing? 

The most recent published NHS data for November shows an improvement in our cancer performance and a reduction in our overall waiting list.  The Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting list went down to 38,847. Almost 8,000 patients started treatment during the month, and almost 7,500 were newly referred. However, fewer patients were treated within 18 weeks compared to the previous month. Our diagnostics waiting list rose again despite carrying out over 15,000 tests and procedures.

Emergency care

In December, 8,646 patients went to our A&E departments. This is slightly fewer than in November (8,831). Our Urgent Treatment Centres saw 1,679 patients, down from 1,721 the month before.

Although attendances were lower, emergency admissions increased. At A&E, just over half of patients (55.3%) were seen within 4 hours. At Urgent Treatment Centres, almost everyone (97.3%) was seen within 4 hours.

Cancer performance

• Almost 6 in 10 patients (58.9%) received a diagnosis or discharge within 28 days of an urgent referral
• 9 in 10 patients (90.7%) started treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat
• About half of patients (53.2%) started treatment within 62 days of an urgent suspected cancer referral

The Board of Directors has reprioritised budgets to invest in improving cancer care. This will help reduce backlogs and deliver treatment more quickly. We are starting to see a steady improvement; however we know there is still much more to do. We expect further improvements in the coming months.

PFI arrangements at The Cumberland Infirmary 

In line with our Trust Board strategy and sustainability plan and through a robust business case, NCIC has successfully demonstrated to NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care and HM Treasury that a no-fault voluntary termination of the PFI contract will provide value for money.

As such, NCIC served notice to Health Management (Carlisle) Limited on 31st December 2025 to voluntary terminate the Cumberland Infirmary PFI agreement.

This termination will be effective from 31st March 2026 when the Trust will assume responsibility for the estate and the commissioning/provision of hard and soft facilities management (i.e. catering, cleaning, portering, security and car park, helpdesk, switchboard, linen and laundry, mailroom, waste, building and grounds maintenance and construction works­).

The Trust is working with Health Management (Carlisle) Limited and its primary sub-contractor, Mitie, to deliver an orderly and safe transition of services that maintains quality and safety of soft and hard facilities management services provided at the Cumberland Infirmary. We are conscious that staff working on this contract will be concerned about the potential implications for them. Commercial conversations are ongoing and the Trust will provide a further update leading up to 31st March.

This development is a strong example of what can be achieved through system wide collaboration between the Trust, North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board and NHS England.

By working together, we have delivered a long-term solution that strengthens financial sustainability and creates greater flexibility to invest in services for the people of north Cumbria.

Due to the ongoing commercial conversations there is no further information to share at this time but we will provide updates in due course.

Contract awarded for new look integrated sexual health service 

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) has been awarded the contract to deliver modern, integrated sexual health services across the county of Cumbria for the next six years.

Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council have joined forces to commission a single provider for Cumbria.

NCIC already provides sexual health services across the county; however, the new look service will be transformed to meet the evolving sexual health needs of the population. It reflects the three big shifts included in the NHS Ten Year Plan published last year.

The service will be providing a new digital platform that will speed up and improve access to services and reduce some of the traditional barriers that people encounter when accessing sexual health clinics.

CIC welcomed Pears Cumbria School of Medicine students

The first cohort of graduate-entry medical students from the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine (PCSM) arrived at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) in December for a one-week introductory clinical placement, marking a milestone in the region’s drive to grow and retain its future medical workforce. This initiative underscores the commitment to strengthening healthcare education in Cumbria. The placements give students early, supervised exposure to patient care and multidisciplinary teamwork - core elements of PCSM’s bespoke, community-focused curriculum. The programme is designed to address Cumbria’s longstanding doctor shortages by training new clinicians in the communities they will have the opportunity to go on to serve.

Read more here.

NCIC colleagues inspire students on BBC Bitesize Careers Tour

Three colleagues from NCIC were recently invited to speak about their career as part of the BBC Bitesize Careers tour at local secondary schools.

Design Specialist Rachel Benn, Pharmacy Technician Megan Halliburton, and Communications Officer Cara Martin each attended a different school as part of a panel to speak to year groups 7, 8, 9, and 10 about different career options available. 

Design specialist Rachel Benn said: “It was such a pleasure to be part of the careers event with BBC Bitesize. “There’s lots of pressure on young people to know what they want to be when the grow up and so these decisions can feel massive.”

Information from external agencies 

In this new section we are sharing information from other agencies.

This month we are happy to share news from Cumberland Council about their Local Offer - Introducing the new SEND Local Offer! and a: New Neurodiversity and Emotional Wellbeing Service pilot launched for families in Cumberland

The University of Cumbria has asked us to share details of places available to be a fully funded general practice nurse.

Member and Governor update

Governor column from Michael Sydney, Public Governor for Allerdale 

"I became one of the Public Governors representing Allerdale in the 2025 election. My initial contribution to medical practice in Cumbria, was in 1991, when I became House Surgeon to Mr. J.P. Turney F.R.C.S. at the West Cumberland Hospital. The hospital was new, and a great place to work. My first (and only) appendectomy, under supervision, became the stuff of legend.

“Later, in 1974, now safely settled in a non-surgical career, I joined a General Practice in West Cumbria, retiring finally, after several false alarms, in 2019. This tells you two things about me. I really enjoyed my job, and I don’t give up easily.

“General Practice was very much a team game. We aimed to provide a high standard of care for our patients, while negotiating our way through the ever-changing challenge of NHS targets. We worked as a partnership from four separate rural sites. Just writing this I realise that, on a larger scale, this is exactly the position of our NCIC NHS Trust, striving to provide high quality care in a scattered rural environment. Neither patients nor staff can be happy with our position in the NHS National Oversight Framework, and this must be a priority for us all in 2026.

“I am still feeling my way as a Governor. My role is to represent the views and experiences of patients in Allerdale, but I must confess that currently I have little idea what these views are. So, I have decided to produce a quarterly newsletter for our members in Allerdale. This will complement the Trust Newsletter you are currently reading. It will include a summary of Governors Council business, current Trust issues, and invite comment from members on their own Trust experiences and wishes. As a member, you ’can have a say in how our services are run and developed.’ Let’s do it!”

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 

Keep right up to date

You can keep right up to date with our news on our public website www.ncic.nhs.uk/news or follow us on Facebook, linked in or ‘X’ @ncicnhs.

 ​​

Subscribe to receive our monthly news

You can fill in the below form or email communications@ncic.nhs.uk to recieve the news on the last Friday of each month.