Barrow and Furness MP Michelle Scrogham is calling for a public consultation to be held into plans to make changes to hospital wards.
In autumn, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust set out plans to alter the number of beds at Furness General Hospital in Barrow, Kendal’s Westmorland General Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.
Several wards are due to be repurposed or closed.
The proposal caused concern among local councillors and an extraordinary meeting of Westmorland and Furness Council’s Adults and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee was held in November.
Internal discussions with hospital staff took place and the consultation concluded on December 17.
Now, revised plans have been shared by the trust.
But Mrs Scrogham said: “They are fairly minor revisions, and huge concerns remain.
“The proposals, even with these amendments, clearly still constitute a significant change to services and, therefore, the ICB must now ensure there is a full public consultation. The NHS makes its best decisions when it listens to the public and it would be completely wrong for local people to be ignored on this.”
On January 8, the trust posted more details of the next stage of the process on the organisation’s Facebook page.
It said: “We’ve shared these revised plans with colleagues to hear their further reflections and unless any new feedback we receive means we need to relook at the final plans, the next step is for us to approach Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board as commissioners for their final consideration.
“The board will then work with NHS England, the local health adult scrutiny committee and the trust to determine the appropriate process and whether there is a requirement for public consultation.
“No changes will be made until this process has been completed, and we will continue to keep you updated on progress.”
