Hospital celebrates major refit

Celebrations will get underway on Wednesday to mark the end of a major refurbishment of a Cumbrian hospital.

The year-long work, which has cost £770,000, has increased the number of beds at Wigton Hospital, formerly a Victorian workhouse, from 26 to 35.

The project had included providing additional out-patient clinic rooms, a new physiotherapy unit and offices for the GP out-of-hours emergency service.

Wigton Mayor Elaine Lynch will unveil a plaque to mark the refurbishment.

The revamp includes the modernisation of all rooms and improvements to communal patient areas.

'Modern surroundings'

The hospital is now able to offer clinics in psychology, smoking cessation, pre-assessment and genito-urinary medicine, with a retinal screening clinic starting shortly.

The building was originally a Victorian workhouse before becoming a hospital in the 1940s.

Kay Douglas, from Carlisle and District PCT, said: "After a year-long programme of modernisation, Wigton Hospital is now able to offer patients a wider range of services and up-to-date facilities in modern surroundings."