Calls to consult over plans to close hospital beds

Councillors have called for a public consultation into proposals to close 24 beds at a Lancashire hospital.

The plans by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) to close beds at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary were discussed by Lancashire County Council's health scrutiny committee on Tuesday.

Committee members said consultation was required since the closures would amount to a "significant change in the service" provided by the hospital.

UHMBT, which has been approached for comment, previously said the beds were used for rehabilitating patients whose care would be better served outside a hospital setting.

In December, the trust said significant financial challenges meant it was having to take serious decisions.

The trust said the closure of a 24-bed ward would save nearly £450,000 during the next financial year.

Hamish Mills, a Green Party councillor who sits on Lancashire County Council's health scrutiny committee, said using so-called "virtual beds", where patients stay at home, was not a good solution for everyone.

He said "not all homes can provide the same good quality service of care and people might be living by themselves".

Mills added: "I am worried the cuts are being made [following] pressure from central government and that service provision for people in Lancashire and Lancaster isn't being paid attention to."

No timing for the proposed closure has been announced and UHMBT said no services would be removed or reduced. It also stressed that no jobs would be lost.

The proposed cuts come alongside the planned closure of 18 beds at Furness General in Barrow.

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