ANGER and frustration dominated a public meeting that focused on future plans for a vital health service.

More than 400 people rallied together to make a stand against proposals by the Success Regime to take away 24-hour consultancy-led maternity services at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

As a staple part of every day life for many Millom families, plans to abolish the service have left whole communities feeling isolated, but politicians and community leaders attended a special meeting on Wednesday evening to ensure families continue to get the specialist care they require.

Copeland borough councillor Felicity Wilson spoke on behalf of the Millom community at the meeting, which was chaired by Copeland MP Jamie Reed.

Cllr Wilson said: "I found a lot of it very frustrating and I found that the Success Regime did not appear to have any cognisance of Millom's need.

"There's this assumption that the majority of patient care is provided by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, when in fact a lot of Millom people opt to go to West Cumberland Hospital and a number of mums opt to have their babies in Whitehaven."

A spokesman from the Success Regime described the meeting as being "fairly robust" but made assurances that Millom would not be forgotten about and that no decisions would be made until after the consultation period.

The meeting was attended by the chairman of the Success Regime, Sir Neil McKay.

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Members of the public were able to voice their concerns about proposals by the Success Regime to downgrade 24-hour consultancy-led maternity and paediatric services at West Cumberland Hospital and move them to Carlisle.

Sir McKay suggested having a dedicated ambulance to transfer maternity patients in labour but this was strongly opposed by both the MP and attendees.

Mr Reed ended the meeting by pledging to oppose any recommendation to remove 24-hour consultant-led services from West Cumberland Hospital and urged people to ensure that their voices are heard by putting a line through the consultation document and writing "24hr CLU @ WCH" in its place, if the Success Regime recommends the removal of services.

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He said: “Now is a crucial moment for the future of health services in west Cumbria, and I am grateful to all those who attended my public meeting this evening to ensure that their voices are heard by the chairman of the Success Regime."

Cllr Wilson reported that many people left the meeting feeling deflated and as though the proposal was a fait accompli.

She was also surprised at the number of people who did not realise how much Millom would be affected by the changes.

She said: "People were coming up to me saying 'we forgot about you. I didn't realise - we forgot.' I said that now is the time for us to remember that we are Copeland, we are west Cumbria, and that the Millom community will support them in keeping services closer to patients."