CONCERNS relating to patient safety at the trust that runs Furness General Hospital are due to be probed by an external review.

NHS England has ordered an independent review into trauma and orthopaedics services at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust.

It is said to follow concerns about operations carried out by a surgeon between 2011 and 2018.

The NHS England reviews comes after calls from staff and local MPs.

The trust said it had already made improvements after a previous investigation overseen by its own executives.

The Health Service Journal reported that NHS England overruled the trust in ordering an additional investigation.

Dr Shahedal Bari, the medical director of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are aware of some concerns with our trauma and orthopaedic service - we have already made a number of improvements to address them and are working with NHS England to continue to monitor progress.”

Barrow MP Simon Fell said: “Local MPs have been working together on this very closely.

“The trust is clearly seeking to do the right thing, but keeping this review at arms length will help maintain the confidence of staff, patients, and the communities it serves as a whole.

“It is crucial that the processes it has in place to enable whistleblowing and ultimately improve patient safety and outcomes are beyond reproach.”

The trust oversees FGH as well as Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron said the trust was ‘acting well and working hard’ but added: “For their sakes and the safety of patients it is right that this investigation is independent and removed from the trust.”

He said there was a need to know what ‘problems’ the trust had so that all involved could ‘learn lessons’.

The concerns raised are not understood to relate to a specific hospital in the Morecambe Bay trust.