FULL plans for a shake-up to wards at Furness General Hospital have been revealed to staff - as a petition to close a ward gathered more than 1,000 signatures.

Several wards are due to be repurposed or closed as part of a restructuring to beds at the hospital.

And a petition to stop the closure of one ward - Abbey View, used for palliative care - has attracted more than 1,300 signatures in an online petition.

Staff were told of the full plans for the shake-up, which will affect FGH and other hospitals run by the Morecambe Bay NHS trust.

Furness General's ward one, used for gynaecology, is due to see the removal of all overnight beds, while inpatients will be moved to another part of the hospital.

Instead it will be used to be used as an assessment area, including for early pregnancy and surgical emergency care.

Elsewhere, ward four will  repurposed from surgery to a medical ward.

Ward five is due to expand in a move which bosses say will provide 'increased resilience in times of pressure'.

The trust has already confirmed that Abbey View will close next year, with some of its capacity to be taken up by Park View Gardens care home.

The changes have fuelled concern in the community, with Barrow's MP Michelle Scrogham writing to health bosses to warn the hospital was facing 'death by a thousand cuts'.

The creator of the online petition described Abbey View 'a lifeline for local patients', adding: "This action could potentially deny hundreds, possibly thousands, of patients in the coming years the compassionate care they deserve in their time of utmost need.

"It's not just about the number of beds, but the quality of care that these beds represent.

"This is more than a cost-savings measure.

"It is a matter of safeguarding human dignity and preserving quality healthcare for our community."

The trust has claimed that the restructuring of beds in the hospital will not affect services and will not result in staff losing their jobs.

Aaron Cummins, the chief executive of the trust, said: "As part of our work to both improve services and the experience of our patients and colleagues, our Care Groups have been reviewing how our hospitals are set up and what changes we could make to ensure patients receive the best possible care in a more consistent way.

"This review looked at how our beds are configured across our three main hospitals and showed that there are opportunities for us to improve how we use them.

"These proposed changes will help us ensure our patients receive the right care, at the right time, in the right unit; and reduce the time they have to stay in hospital.

"They also strongly support local and national 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."