Three prominent unions have joined forces in the fight to retain services at the West Cumberland Hospital.

Members of Unite, Unison and the GMB have formed the We All Stand Together campaign to protest the “inhumane, immoral and unnecessary” cuts proposed at the West Cumberland Hospital by the Government-appointed Success Regime.

The group has written a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May outlining its concerns, and has offered its support to existing health campaigners, including the We Need The West Cumberland Hospital group.

Union representatives have joined campaigners and community leaders, including Copeland mayor Mike Starkie, at the initial We All Stand Together meetings during which the letter to Mrs May was drafted.

Group spokesman Sean Cullen, a senior Unite steward at Sellafield, said: “It’s about fusing the unions together to offer our strong support to all those already fighting to save the hospital.

“We need everyone’s buy-in to all sing from the same songsheet, and strength in numbers will offer greater impetus to the cause.

“We cannot – and will not – accept the proposals to cut these vital hospital services. This community group will do everything in its power to prevent these cuts being implemented.”

Included in the Success Regime’s proposals – the outcome of which is due to be made public this spring – is the downgrading of the maternity, A&E and children’s wards.


Members of the We All Stand Together campaign In its letter to the Prime Minister, the group writes: “There is a general consensus that the planned cuts to our hospital services are inhumane, immoral and illogically unnecessary, and all concerned are bewildered at the prospect of these proposals being implemented.”

On the possible withdrawal of a consultant-led maternity ward, the group writes: “This is not acceptable because we have a duty of care and we cannot and will not allow women and their babies to be faced with fear, confronted with difficult situations with a risk of harm or worse.”

A&E, it adds, is “vital to the community” given the hazardous nature of work at the Sellafield site.

And on the proposal to remove the provision of overnight stays on the children’s ward, the group says it is “beyond comprehension”.

It concludes: “Are we to live in a Draconian society where vitally-important services are stripped away from us and we are hung out to dry without a murmur? The answer is no. These cuts are nothing short of an injustice and a breach of human rights.”

The group has received the backing of Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey, who said: “This is an outrageous decision and we call upon the Government to halt these proposals which will undoubtedly lead to men, women and children having to travel considerable distances to receive the service that is currently given by the brilliant staff at the West Cumberland Hospital.”