HOSPITAL chief Stephen Eames said widespread opposition to plans to downgrade maternity in Whitehaven will be taken on board - but warned that retaining the current service may not be possible.

Speaking at the end of the high-profile Success Regime consultation, Mr Eames said they have to find a solution that meets national standards as well as having the backing of the community.

Thousands of people, along with many medical staff, have now voiced their concerns over the preferred option - to move consultant-led care from the West Cumberland Hospital to Carlisle.

It would leave only a midwide-led unit in Whitehaven, meaning hundreds of women having to travel the A595 in labour.

Despite claims there have been no proper risk assessments, Mr Eames said that is not the case, saying extensive work has been going on for 18 months to weigh up all of the risks and options.

However the chief executive of North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust stressed there is no risk free option - and believes that it is not possible to maintain the service as it is now.

"There clearly is no doubt about the concerns and opposition to maternity and children's services from the west of the patch. That's quite clear and clearly needs to be listened to," he said.

"The issue remains that, in maternity and children's services, we still have to find an option that gives long term stability and meets standards that have been set. I do not think it's possible to keep things as they are. We can't meet some of the standards that are required.

"If we end up without any changes that respond to these issues I'd be concerned that we'd see a worsening of the situation in both Whitehaven and Carlisle. We can't compromise on quality standards."

There have been calls for rules to be relaxed to take into account Cumbria's unique geography and population spread.

But Mr Eames is doubtful. "We have been asked questions during the consultation about whether we could have a different arrangement than the rest of the country because of the different challenges. We can't do that. Our job as health professionals is to make sure standards of quality are met and sustained," he said.

He said the key is to find an innovative solution - citing the dedicated maternity ambulance he suggested as an example of that.

Mr Eames accepts this wasn't well received during the public consultation. But he said they are still working on more detailed plans, with a team visiting Wales last week to see firsthand how a similar model is working there.

He added that concerns about transferring patients had to be balanced. Although there have been some successes in recruitment, he said it still remains difficult to appoint paediatricians - which therefore affects the hospital's ability to care for sick babies.

"There are issues of risk to do with moving patients between hospitals but I'm very comfortable with all of that.

"We have a well-honed system and do it every day, both ways. Our professionals on the frontline are well-versed in that and we haven't had any serious incidents. It is already very robust.

"The issue is then risk in maternity. In any healthcare setting you can't eradicate all risk. Is the risk greater if you have a midwifery-led unit? Is the risk greater than the risk of not having a paediatrician available? You have to look at these risks in context," he said.

"There are risks with any healthcare changes but personally I feel, based on my experience, the risks are low."

Despite failing to convince the public on many of the preferred options, including maternity, Mr Eames said he felt the Healthcare for the Future consultation had been positive in many ways.

This included the volume of responses, which he said was better than average for an NHS consultation.

"In my experience of consultations, this has been pretty good in the context of the amount of people that have been involved and the way it has been run. We've tried every which way to engage - public meetings, the chatty van, smaller meetings...I'd be very comfortable with the process. There's clearly a lot of passion and concerns and actually quite a lot of constructive ideas," he added.

All of the feedback is now being analysed, with a report due to go to NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning group's Governing Body in the spring ahead of a final decision being made.