Fears have been raised over the future of inpatient services at Workington hospital after proposals were revealed that could see the beds scrapped.

Cottage hospitals across West Cumbria are set to face changes under plans being drawn up by health service troubleshooters.

Two early ideas have been mooted by the west, north and east Cumbria Success Regime Programme Board, set up by the Government to tackle deep-rooted problems in the local health service.

They have been made public now ahead of a formal consultation expected in May.

One of the options would see expansion of inpatient services at units including Workington and Cockermouth, with all beds removed from other cottage hospitals including Keswick and Maryport.

The other would see all cottage hospital inpatient facilities closed.

The Success Regime has said community hospitals would still play a key part, but it wants to review how it uses them.

Its vision states: "Our community hospitals typically have a small number of beds and that gives us great challenges in recruitment, meeting safe staffing levels and providing medical cover. In addition some of the buildings are aging and no longer fit for purpose."

Removing all inpatient beds from cottage hospitals would require significant investment in community care, focused on keeping people out of hospital, it adds.

Cottage hospitals would become community care hubs focusing on outpatient appointments.

The news comes 10 years after widespread protests to save the cottage hospitals from cuts and possible closure.

In spring 2006 high-profile demonstrations were staged, a 70,000-signature petition collected and MPs lobbied at Downing Street.

Eventually health bosses backed down and came up with a new vision for community hospitals to ease pressures on the big acute hospitals.

But this plan, dubbed Closer to Home, was never properly implemented, and problems across the system have worsened.

The area's joint league of friends is due to meet with bosses on Monday to discuss the plans and their response.

Alan Clark, of the League of Friends of Workington Community Hospital, said: "We are disappointed by the news that inpatient beds at our hospital are again under threat.

"These beds are a vital link in rehabilitating patients who still require specialist care but are not well enough to go home and provide respite care for patients too ill to be cared for at home.

"What they also are doing is allowing patients to be released out of the main hospitals where they are actually blocking beds required for operations.

"The fact is these beds are high cost not just because they are in small

units but because the patients still require specialist care and support.

"Overall the problem is a shortage of NHS hospital beds, cuts make no sense."

Workington MP Sue Hayman is calling for a meeting with Sir Neil.

She said: "We need to make sure people have the services they need as close to home as possible.

"I'd want to look very closely at what they're proposing.

"If beds are lost in Maryport and Keswick because of the expansion of Workington and Cockermouth that's something we'd have to look at.

"I'd be extremely concerned about losing them altogether.

"We have to have inpatient beds at community hospitals between Whitehaven and Carlisle."