New Cumbria unit to 'limit' hospital trips

Patient journey times may be reduced when a new assessment unit opens at a Cumbria hospital, health chiefs said.

The unit at Penrith Hospital will assess patients before they have an operation. Currently they travel to hospitals outside the Eden area.

Hospital chiefs have also invested £300,000 on improvements to the Bridge Lane site including new bathrooms and non-slip flooring.

The assessment unit will open early next year.

A spokesman for the hospital said: "The new assessment service will allow patients to come to Penrith for diagnostic tests and assessments prior to an operation for example, rather than having to travel further to another hospital outside the Eden area."