A PETITION calling for a shake-up to specialist gynaecology services at Barrow's hospital to be reversed has amassed more than 1,500 signatures.

A number of wards at Furness General Hospital are facing being closed or repurposed as part of what health trust bosses describe as a reorganisation of beds.

And fears have been raised over changes to the hospital's ward one.

Used for gynaecology, it 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.

 An online petition protesting against the move has gathered 1,515 at the time of writing.

The organiser of the petition says it could affect 'safety, privacy and dignity for the women of Furness'.

Explaining the reason for the change, hospital chiefs said the majority of gynaecology involved day cases not needing overnight stays with on average only two to four beds used on the wards for inpatients.

Concerns have also been raised over the closure of other wards including Abbey View, used for palliative care.

Michelle Scrogham, the Barrow MP, is among those raising fears over the changes and has called for further consultation.

She said: "I am opposed to these changes, and I don’t believe that it is right that they can be made without proper consultation.

"It is important that there is full transparency on the decision being made.

"I have now asked that the Trust attend a public meeting to enable them to explain the changes they are proposing and so they can hear the concerns of local people."

She previously wrote to health bosses to warn FGH was facing 'death by a thousand cuts'.

Aaron Cummins, the chief executive of the Morecambe Bay NHS trust said when the changes were first announced: "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."