Beds are being cut at all three hospitals

Twelve dermatology beds and four gynaecology beds could be cut at Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

Twelve medicine beds and 19 surgical beds are also earmarked for closure at Westmorland General Hospital.

At Furness General Hospital, one cot and an intensive care bed could be cut, while the trust is also considering a temporary closure of six surgical beds.

A number of medicine beds at the hospital are also earmarked for closure, while the out-patient fertility clinic could be held fortnightly instead of weekly.

Job threat

At Lancaster, a general review of orthopaedic and general surgery beds will also be carried out.

It is not yet known how many jobs are threatened by the planned cuts.

The trust said it was committed to maintaining Lancaster and Furness as district general hospitals and developing Westmorland as a "centre for excellence for diagnosis and treatment".

It said it would also cut costs in agency staffing, stricter controls of overtime and study leave and by filling as many posts as possible internally.

Management costs would also be cut by 10% over the next 12 months under the plans.

Cuts in the radiology, pathology and estate management departments would also be considered.