COUNCILLORS will meet today to scrutinise proposed changes and closures of hospital wards.

Westmorland and Furness Councillors have called an extraordinary meeting of the adults and health scrutiny committee which will take place at Barrow Town Hall to discuss the changes.

The council say the decision to call the meeting reflects the ‘significant concerns’ of committee members, and other local community representatives, about the planned reconfiguration of wards and beds and the level of public and stakeholder engagement undertaken to this point.

MP Tim Farron has written to the Chief Executive of Morecambe Bay Hospitals Trust Aaron Cummins urging him to halt controversial and imminent plans to close hospital wards in Kendal and Barrow.

Under the proposals, Ward 6 at Westmorland General Hospital, which is used for rehabilitation, and the Abbey View palliative care ward at Furness General Hospital, will be closed.

Meanwhile changes to Ward 1 at Furness General Hospital will see the removal of overnight beds, and gynaecology inpatients moved to a mixed sex ward.

Writing to Mr Cummins, Mr Farron said: “I understand that your Trust has been put under huge financial strains as a result of historic underfunding, and therefore are being forced to make some difficult decisions.

“However that doesn’t change the fact that the closure of Ward 6 will put more pressure on an already beleaguered social care system. It will also either result in patients being transferred all the way over to Barrow or patients being discharged who are not in a medically fit state. Meanwhile the decision to close the Abbey View palliative care ward will undoubtedly have a huge impact on hospices in Cumbria.

“I am also incredibly concerned about the changes to Ward 1 at Furness General Hospital – removing all overnight beds and moving all gynaecology inpatients to a mixed sex ward. I am receiving complaints from distressed hospital staff who share these concerns about how this will affect the privacy and dignity of women.

“I am even more concerned that all of these decisions appears to be happening without any consultation with patients and the local community.

“I therefore urge you to halt these closures and instead put these decisions out to public consultation.”

Barrow MP Michelle Scrogham said: "This is not the public meeting and consultation that I have been calling for but it is at least a step forward in UHMBT being more transparent about the changes they want to make.

“I am really pleased that there has been cross-party agreement on this issue and I know from conversations with committee members that they will be pushing the Trust to hold proper consultation with staff and the public on these changes.

“The Trust must confirm to the committee that they will be pausing any changes whilst they undertake a full consultation and do the detailed work needed to understand the potential impact on the sustainability of FGH. ”