There are two firsts in the North West of Cumbria - the first NHS hospital, and the first PFI hospital :

Location : Carlisle
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 388560

The Cumberland Infirmary, the flagship of the national PFI programme was officially opened by the Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, Prime Minister, on Friday 16th June 2000.

It was the first UK PFI Hospital to be bond financed. Design and construction of the new facilities was conducted by AMEC, and took approximately 29 months. The £87 million hospital provides 444 beds for the local community. The project involved the amalgamation of three existing hospitals into a new building on the Infirmary site, and the provision of a range of services for the 45-year concession period.

Health Management (Carlisle) plc is a 50/50 dedicated joint venture concession company formed for the Cumberland Infirmary Carlisle by AMEC and Interserve (Facilities Management) Ltd.

The City General Hospital, in Fusehill St, built as a workhouse to a design by Lockwood and Mawson, 1864. The site is now occupied by St Martin's College. See also more pictures.

The Cumberland Infirmary, Newtown Road, by Robert Tattershall, 1830-2, is extremely impressive, and grand. Eleven bays with a giant tetrastyle portico of Greek Doric columns carrying a pediment. Extended in 1870 by Ferguson.

The West Cumberland Hospital, in Whitehaven, was the first hospital built in England following the creation of the National Health Service. It was officially opened on October 21, 1964 by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

It was built to replace the old Whitehaven Hospital, the home for some 200 years of the Lowther family. In 1924 the Earl of Lonsdale sold Whitehaven Castle to Mr H. Walker, who donated it to the town, along with monies to carry out necessary repairs and alterations. The castle was duly modified and it replaced the old infirmary which had been difficult to bring up-to-date.

In 1951, due to inadequacies at the infirmary, plans were drawn up for a replacement - the new West Cumberland Hospital. The castle remained in use as a geriatric unit until 1986, when due to fire regulations, it had to close. The building lay empty for a while, and has now been converted to housing.

Aerial photos and old Cumberland Infirmary photos by Simon Ledingham.

The North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was set up in April 2001 as a merger between the Whitehaven hospital and the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.

Related Links :

• House of Commons - PFI project summary
• Cumberland Infirmary PFI Project - Interserve
• Private Finance Initiative - Guardian Special Report
• Whitehaven Castle history
• North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
• History of the hospitals

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