Documenting the campaigns to keep open Grisedale Croft and to secure the future of community healthcare on Alston Moor.
Every Freedom of Information request the campaign has made to the public bodies responsible for the future of Grisedale Croft and the Ruth Lancaster James Cottage Hospital. Choose any request to read what was asked, the replies received so far, and a link to the full thread on WhatDoTheyKnow. Where a body has grouped several of our questions under one reference, they are shown together. A summary of what these requests have established, drawn from the disclosed documents, is set out in the evidence briefing.
These 5 separate requests have been answered by the body under a single reference.
The full Cabinet report, all appendices, and all impact assessments (Equality Impact Assessment, Integrated Impact Assessment, and any Data Protection Impact Assessment) relating to the decision taken by Cabinet on 21 April 2026 concerning the fut… (and 3 further questions).
At 31 March of each year from 2020 to the latest available year: the number of registered beds at Grisedale Croft, the number of beds open for admission, the number of permanent residents, and the number of respite and intermediate-care / step-dow… (and 6 further questions).
The most recent building condition survey and any stock condition report for Grisedale Croft (and any preceding report since 2018), together with any engineers' or architects' assessments of whether the building can be refurbished or extended. (and 3 further questions).
For each financial year from 2020/21 to the latest completed year, the number of Westmorland and Furness residents aged 65 or over whose home address was within the Alston Moor parish and who had a Discharge to Assess (Pathway 2) placement in a be… (and 5 further questions).
The Equality Impact Assessment completed to inform the Cabinet decision of 21 April 2026 concerning Grisedale Croft, in full and unredacted save where redaction is legally required. (and 4 further questions).
The consultation document for Grisedale Croft, the full list of consultees, and the distribution plan, including how residents without internet access on Alston Moor will be reached. Confirmation of the start date, end date, and scheduled decision date of the consultation, and the names of the officer and the Cabinet member with responsibility for analysing responses. Confirmation of whether the final decision will be taken by Cabinet, by full Council, or under delegated authority by the Director of Adult Care. Confirmation of whether and how the outcome will be scrutinised by the relevant Scrutiny Committee(s), and whether a call-in procedure is available. Any protocol or internal guidance governing how the Council responds to representations from a Parish Council, Town Council, MP or Member of the House of Lords during the consultation period. The Cabinet report dated 21 April 2026 states at paragraph 9.5: "Whilst a potentially suitable property has been identified, the Council has not had a conditional offer accepted." The Council's response to question 13 of FOI-208440-2026 (received 22 May 2026) states that no feasibility study, site-search report, options appraisal, or correspondence with potential site owners has been undertaken to date in relation to the provision of alternative accommodation. Please provide: (a) Any document, note, email, or other record that identifies the property referred to in paragraph 9.5 of the Cabinet report, or records how it came to the Council's attention. (b) Any document, note, email, or other record of any communication — whether formal or informal, written or otherwise — between any Council officer or member and any person with an interest in that property, prior to the Cabinet meeting of 21 April 2026. (c) Confirmation of whether any Council officer or member visited the property prior to the Cabinet meeting of 21 April 2026.
Comparative data for Grisedale Croft and Applethwaite Green Care Homes, and Westmorland and Furness Council's decision to consult on their futures on different terms. The consultation on Applethwaite Green presents four options without preference; the consultation on Grisedale Croft proceeds on a stated preferred option.
All versions of the Alston Alliance health and care plan (sometimes referred to as the Eden Integrated Care Community plan for Alston), and any associated memoranda of understanding, joint commissioning agreements, or partnership agreements betwee… (and 4 further questions).
1. The criteria document or documents governing eligibility for admission to the two NHS-designated re-ablement / intermediate care beds at Grisedale Croft, including any version or versions issued to referrers — general practitioners, district nurses, and hospital discharge teams — from the date of the beds’ designation (on or around 2017–18) to the present. 2. All records of admissions to those beds from their designation to the present, including for each admission: the date of admission, the duration of stay, and the discharge destination or recorded outcome. 3. All financial records relating to payment for occupancy of the NHS-designated beds, including invoices rendered, payment schedules, and settlement or reconciliation accounts, from the date of designation to the present. 4. All commissioning agreements, service level agreements, memoranda of understanding, block-booking arrangements, or other formal documents — between the Council (or Cumbria County Council) and any NHS body — governing the designation, operation, or funding of those beds. 5. All correspondence between the Council (or Cumbria County Council) and any NHS body — including the former North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust — regarding the criteria, referral pathway, operation, review, amendment or suspension of the NHS-designated beds, from 1 April 2017 to the present.
1. All records of capital expenditure on the Grisedale Croft building and premises from 1 April 2015 to the date of this request, including but not limited to: works to the roof; installation, replacement, or refurbishment of the passenger lift; installation or replacement of fire detection, alarm, or suppression systems; installation or replacement of emergency power generation equipment; redecoration or refurbishment of bedrooms, bathrooms, corridors, or communal rooms; and any works to the attached flatted accommodation on the same site. 2. All building condition surveys, structural assessments, fire risk assessments, asbestos surveys, electrical condition reports, or similar inspection or certification reports relating to the Grisedale Croft building and premises from 1 April 2015 to the date of this request. 3. All planned maintenance schedules, asset management plans, or capital investment plans relating to the Grisedale Croft building and premises from 1 April 2015 to the date of this request. 4. All internal reports, briefing notes, or correspondence in which the physical condition, suitability, or fitness for purpose of the Grisedale Croft building is cited as a factor in any proposed operational change, from 1 April 2018 to the date of this request.
It concerns the Westmorland and Furness Health and Wellbeing Board (the "Board"), covering the period from the establishment of Westmorland and Furness Council on 1 April 2023 to the date of this request, together with any shadow or transitional Health and Wellbeing Board arrangements operating before that date. For the purposes of this request, the "relevant subject matter" means any one or more of the following: (a) Grisedale Croft Care Home, Alston; (b) the proposed closure of Grisedale Croft and the current public consultation on its future; (c) intermediate care, step-down or re-ablement provision for the residents of Alston Moor, whether at Grisedale Croft or elsewhere; (d) inpatient, step-down or intermediate-care beds associated with the Ruth Lancaster James Community Hospital, Alston; and (e) the adequacy, sufficiency or future of residential or intermediate adult care provision in Alston Moor more generally. Please provide the following recorded information that relates, in whole or in part, to the relevant subject matter: 1. Any agenda or agenda item of the Board. 2. Any minute or record of proceedings of the Board. 3. Any report, briefing or supporting paper presented or circulated to the Board, including papers presented to any sub-committee, working group or task-and-finish group of the Board. 4. Any decision, recommendation, resolution or action recorded by the Board. 5. Any passage in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, or in any Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy (or any document serving the equivalent function under a different title), that has been prepared, adopted, reviewed or refreshed by the Board.
A refined resubmission of FOI-211351-2026, narrowed after Westmorland and Furness Council's section 12 (cost limit) refusal of 2 June 2026. It asks only for recorded building expenditure figures and a finite, named set of documents (condition reports and maintenance plans), with each item severable and section 16 advice requested on anything over the cost limit. It drops the original request's internal reports, briefing notes and correspondence.
Concerns the cost figures in the consultation "The future of Grisedale Croft Care Home" (open 14 May 2026, then due to close on 5 August 2026 and since extended to 19 August 2026), which states refurbishment would need an estimated £2.5 million to £3.0 million to meet modern regulatory standards (Option 2), described as indicative costs based on similar council projects in Cumbria. The request asks for the recorded basis of those refurbishment and rebuild figures.
Following Westmorland and Furness Council's reply of 24 June 2026 under FOI-208440-2026, which directed this question to a separate request, this asks for the Council's records of the identified replacement property for Grisedale Croft Care Home — including the officer visit of 17 April 2026, the property's status as 'sold subject to contract', and any capital-funding records.
The evidence relied on by Westmorland and Furness Council officers at the public meeting on Grisedale Croft Care Home held in Alston Town Hall on 16 July 2026, including the source for the bedroom-size figure given, the cost and occupancy figures for every home the Council runs in-house, and the home from which the example room shown was taken.
The block of 12 flats adjoining Grisedale Croft Care Home, formerly leased to Eden Housing Association and since handed back to Westmorland and Furness Council: when it was vacated, any assessment of its suitability for residential or care use, and whether it is the property identified as potentially suitable in the Cabinet report of 21 April 2026.
Westmorland and Furness Council's decision to clarify the published consultation information and extend both the Grisedale Croft and Applethwaite Green consultations to 19 August 2026, including the record of the decision, the advice it rested on, the responses received before it was taken, and the basis for the stated closure periods of 12 to 24 months for refurbishment and two to four years for a rebuild.
The methodology behind Westmorland and Furness Council's published cost-per-resident figures for its in-house care homes, including the occupancy figure used as the divisor, the derivation of the 16.7 per cent centrally attributable overhead rate, and any assessment of which costs would genuinely cease on closure.
The staffing model at Grisedale Croft Care Home, including Westmorland and Furness Council's use of agency and bank staff, the spend on each since 2020/21, the reasons recorded for that reliance, and whether those costs are already inside the running-cost figures published in the consultation.
Testing the Council's stated justification that Grisedale Croft and Applethwaite Green must be brought up to modern standards with en-suite rooms: the minimum bedroom size the Council applied and its source; for every Council care home, the number of bedrooms below that size (or below 10m² and 12m²) and the number without an en-suite; any held record of individual bedroom dimensions; and any assessment comparing the homes against modern standards.
Any written guidance, instruction or briefing note to staff about the future of Grisedale Croft Care Home or about placements there. The Council said it holds none, and that such documents 'would not have been created', while on the same day confirming under a related request that new permanent admissions had been suspended on the strength of a briefing note.
The Council's decision to suspend all new permanent admissions to Grisedale Croft Care Home and Applethwaite Green, taken by its Adult Social Care Management Team on 28 April 2026 with immediate effect, until the consultation ends and a final decision is made. Only three short excerpts from the management team minutes were provided, and the briefing note they refer to was not.
Correspondence between Westmorland and Furness Council and the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board or North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust since 1 April 2023 about the future of the two NHS-designated beds at Grisedale Croft Care Home. This narrows a question refused on cost under FOI 18.
Any report, options appraisal or briefing note since 1 January 2024, prepared for the Corporate Management Team or Cabinet, that relies on the condition or suitability of the Grisedale Croft Care Home building as a reason for closure or change of use, other than the April 2026 reports already disclosed. This follows FOI 19.
Any records held by Cumberland Council that were inherited from Cumbria County Council concerning the 2017–2018 closure of the Alston in-patient beds at the Ruth Lancaster James Cottage Hospital, or concerning the Alston Alliance / Eden Integrated… (and 3 further questions).
Every contract, framework agreement, spot-purchase arrangement or individual placement agreement that the ICB (and its predecessor, NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group) has held since 1 April 2020 with Grisedale Croft Care Home, Alston,… (and 5 further questions).
1. Copies of any commissioning specifications, service-level agreements, contracts, or contract variations between (a) North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group and/or NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board and (b) any provider, relating to NHS step-down, intermediate care, or re-ablement beds delivered at or in conjunction with Grisedale Croft Care Home, Alston, from 1 April 2018 to the date of this request. 2. Records of the funding, budget allocations, or contract values committed for the two NHS-designated re-ablement / intermediate-care beds at Grisedale Croft, broken down by financial year, from 1 April 2018 to the date of this request. 3. Copies of the referral pathways, eligibility criteria, and access procedures established for the NHS-designated beds at Grisedale Croft, including any subsequent updates or amendments, from 1 April 2018 to the date of this request. 4. Copies of any service reviews, performance reports, KPI reports
All documents inherited from Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust concerning the closure of the in-patient beds at the Ruth Lancaster James Cottage Hospital in 2017–2018, the replacement package of community-based care, and the Alston Alliance… (and 5 further questions).
NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB has directed the PC to North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust ("the Trust") under reference FOI ICB 26-033, advising that the Trust holds the information sought in relation to step-down and Discharge… (and 6 further questions).
Records of how the two NHS-designated re-ablement and intermediate-care beds at Grisedale Croft have been used since 1 April 2018 — occupancy, referrals, length of stay, supporting services, and whether the arrangement remains in place. (Eight questions in all.)
The request concerns the Ruth Lancaster James Community Hospital, Church Road, Alston, Cumbria, CA9 3QX (CQC location ID RNNRJ; OS National Grid Reference NY 718 462), hereafter "the site", and is addressed to the Trust and any predecessor body whose records the Trust now holds, including Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and earlier NHS bodies. 1. The body in which the freehold of the site was vested on 31 March 2017, immediately before the closure of the in-patient beds, together with any HM Land Registry title number(s) recorded in the Trust's or its predecessors' files. 2. The basis on which the Trust (or Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust) occupied the site at that date — lease, licence, occupational agreement, or other arrangement — together with the identity of the landlord or licensor and the principal terms of any such agreement. 3. The date on which the Trust ceased to occupy the site or to provide services from it, and the body to which occupation passed (understood to be Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust). Please provide a copy of any transfer of services agreement, lease assignment, or occupational handover document recording that change.
This request follows North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust's response of 9 June 2026 to an earlier request about the Ruth Lancaster James Cottage Hospital site. It asks for the 1948 vesting instrument, the title deeds the Trust holds as freeholder, and any restrictive covenant, trust or right of reverter recorded against the title.
For each financial year from 2020/21 to the latest completed year: the number of patients discharged from Hexham General Hospital whose home address was within the Alston Moor parish, broken down by destination (home with no new care; home with a… (and 4 further questions).
The request concerns the Ruth Lancaster James Community Hospital, Church Road, Alston, Cumbria, CA9 3QX (CQC location ID RNNRJ; OS National Grid Reference NY 718 462), hereafter "the site". 1. The name of the legal owner of the freehold of the site, including the main hospital building, any car parking, and any ancillary buildings or land held for the purposes of the hospital. 2. The HM Land Registry title number or numbers under which the site is registered. If any part of the site is unregistered land, please confirm this. 3. The basis on which the Trust occupies the site (lease, licence, occupational agreement, memorandum of occupation, or any other arrangement), including: a. the date on which the Trust took occupation of the site or any part of it; b. the term and expiry date of any lease or licence; c. the identity of the landlord or licensor; d. any rent, service charge, or other consideration payable by the Trust to the landlord or licensor in respect of the site for the most recent completed financial year. 4. The name of the body from which the Trust acquired its occupation interest in the site (for example, North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundatio
Asks Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for recorded information on the current operational status, decommissioning, ownership and future plans for the Ruth Lancaster James Cottage Hospital site in Alston. The request notes the hospital served Alston Moor from 1908, its in-patient beds were permanently closed in 2018 under the NHS Success Regime, and the Trust has operated the site since 2019.
For each financial year from 2020/21 to the latest completed year: the number of patients discharged from the Freeman Hospital or the Royal Victoria Infirmary whose home address was within the Alston Moor parish, broken down by discharge pathway (… (and 3 further questions).
All inspection reports, intelligence-gathering notes, monitoring-call records and provider-information-return records held about Grisedale Croft Care Home, Alston (across both the archived Cumbria County Council registration and the current Westmo… (and 6 further questions).
All documents held by NHS England (including the North East and Yorkshire regional team and its predecessor regional structures) concerning the commitments made to the Alston Moor community during the work of the North Cumbria Success Regime (2015… (and 2 further questions).
Please provide all documents held by NHS England (and its predecessor bodies) that record: 1 The development, decision-making and implementation of the closure of the Alston in-patient beds at Ruth Lancaster James Community Hospital, including doc…
The request concerns the Ruth Lancaster James Community Hospital, Church Road, Alston, Cumbria, CA9 3QX (CQC location ID RNNRJ; OS National Grid Reference NY 718 462), hereafter "the site". 1. Confirmation of whether NHS Property Services Ltd holds the freehold (or any other legal interest) in the site, including the main hospital building, any car parking, and any ancillary buildings or land held for the purposes of the hospital. 2. The HM Land Registry title number or numbers under which the site is registered, so far as NHSPS is the registered proprietor. 3. If NHSPS holds the freehold or other interest, the date on which that interest was acquired and the statutory basis on which it was transferred to NHSPS (for example, under a property transfer scheme made under section 300 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012). 4. The body from which NHSPS acquired the interest (for example, NHS Cumbria Primary Care Trust, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, or another NHS body). 5. Any lease, licence, occupational agreement, or other arrangement that NHSPS has granted in respect of the site to North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, Cumbria Partnership
This request to the Department of Health and Social Care asks for the 1948 transfer or vesting record made under the National Health Service Act 1946, how the hospital's 1908 endowment was handled on the appointed day, and — if the records have since passed to The National Archives — the archive reference.
This request asks the Charity Commission for England and Wales whether any charity connected to the Ruth Lancaster James Cottage Hospital exists or has ever existed on its records, and whether a Scheme was ever made over the hospital's 1908 endowment.
A narrowed search of the register of charities, including removed charities, for any charity whose name contains 'Ruth Lancaster James', or 'Alston' with 'hospital', or 'Alston' with 'nursing', with each charity's number, status, registration and removal dates, and any Scheme or order made by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.