There are likely to be changes to a proposed revamp of wards at Barrow’s Furness General Hospital based on feedback from staff.
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, has responded to a series of questions from Michelle Scrogham, the MP for Barrow and Furness.
Several wards are due to be repurposed or closed as part of a restructuring of beds at the hospital.
However in a report the trust says the proposed changes did not mean that services would be stopped or reduced – rather where they were provided within the hospital and the community may change.
Mrs Scrogham said there had been significant public concerns about the proposals and asked the trust to commit to pausing the plans while a public consultation was carried out.
In response, a trust spokesman said: “The views of service users help to make services better. However, as we discussed with the Health Adult Scrutiny Committee, no decisions have been made and there are no final plans to pause.
“It’s only right that we talk to our teams first and consult with them on proposed plans to change the way they work as per trust policy.
“This is their opportunity to feed into the proposed plans moving forward; and based on the feedback we have received to date, it is likely there will be some changes to the proposals.
“Once we have finalised the revised proposals, we will discuss them with our teams again to ensure we have heard correctly and made the changes required to resolve any major concerns.
“We will also share with our commissioners to advise on whether they believe the plans are substantial service variation and therefore, require public consultation.
“We will then discuss with the Furness Locality Board and HASC as agreed with the committee this week.
“If the final plans hit the threshold for public consultation or a wider engagement piece of work; we will, of course, support that fully.
“In the meantime, most of the concerns raised by the public surrounding end of life care provision, privacy and dignity of gynaecology patients, etc, are the same themes that have come up in the colleague consultation and we aim to address those in the revised plans in the coming weeks.
“If we are unable to address them, the changes will not go ahead.”
The Labour MP also asked the trust to confirm that the gynaecology ward would no longer be single-sex but that there will be single-sex bays within a mixed ward, and queried if a risk assessment had been carried out on this approach.
A trust spokesman said: “If the proposals are accepted as they are now, then gynaecology inpatients would be in a dedicated area within Ward 5.
“Ward 5 is made up of single sex bays where patients do not share a bay or facilities with members of the opposite sex.
“A Quality Impact Assessment and Equality Impact Assessment has been completed for these changes which I believe we have shared with you.
“These are clear that any changes must not compromise the privacy and dignity of women.
“I’d like to be clear – if we cannot protect the privacy and dignity of our patients, the changes will not go ahead.”
Aaron Cummins, trust chief executive, previously said at the health and adults scrutiny committee meeting that the drive behind the proposed changes to Furness General Hospital is to make sure patients get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
According to a report prepared by the trust, the proposed changes strongly supported NHS plans for patients to receive care at home or closer to home where appropriate with support from nurses, therapists, social carers, volunteers and doctors in the community.
The report said this time last year the trust had around 150 patients not meeting medical criteria to reside in hospitals, but this number has been reduced to around 100 in October 2024 due to work with primary care and local authorities.
It added that Parkview Gardens in Barrow which currently provides 16 intermediate care beds will soon be providing 24 beds in an environment to support patients in their rehabilitation.
The report states no members of staff will lose their job or be required to work at another of the trust’s sites as part of the proposals.
The chief executive also told council chamber the proposed changes will provide the hospital with capacity for when the population grows with the BAE Systems expansion in Barrow and said Furness General Hospital had a bright future.
