A drop in session to help Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust listen to the community about the future of Kentmere was well attended by the South Lakeland community last week.

Healthwatch Cumbria facilitated the drop in session at South Lakes Foyer in Kendal on Thursday 30th June following news that the decision to close the ward has been delayed pending a fuller assessment of the quality and safety concerns.

Senior clinicians were on hand from the Trust to talk to members of the community who dropped in to complete the survey and many detailed discussions provided rich and informative feedback to the Trust.  

Dr Andrew Brittlebank, the Trust’s Medical Director said: “We really want to thank members of the community for coming out to talk to us. It was very valuable to hear directly from a mixture of people who have used the service, carers and also many representatives from the voluntary sector.  

"What is clear is that the ward and especially the staff are highly valued by the community. We heard from members of the community about their preferences on options for an interim service model, so that if a temporary closure does become necessary, then the Trust will be able to implement a model that we have shaped with the input of our partners. 

"We also heard some great ideas from our colleagues in the voluntary sector which would see us working much more closely together to provide a more joined up service for our service users which would make the best use of our collective resources."

The Trust will be considering all of the feedback from the community and our staff later this month before a decision about whether any urgent action is needed is taken later in the summer with our partners. 

More than 200 people have already completed the survey. The survey is still open until the end of this week Friday 8th July. If anyone would like to share their views please follow this link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/kentmere