Protecting our NHS and FGH

When I was elected an MP for Barrow and Furness, one of my priorities was to protect our NHS.

That has since included opposing the proposal to permanently downgrade Level 3 ICU at Furness General Hospital since the plan was announced in July 2025.

I want an NHS that everyone can rely on, no matter where you live. Geography shouldn’t be a reason for not getting the best healthcare.

Level 3 ICU at Furness General Hospital

Since it was announced in July 2025, I have been opposing the permanent downgrade of level 3 ICU at Furness General. I began a petition which reached 13,000 signatures in the first few days, have met with the ICB, held a public meeting, and lobbied and written to the Health Secretary.

And the ICB has started to listen. We’re winning the campaign to restore level 3 critical care – but we must keep fighting.

We continue to see solid progress in the work to reintroduce level 3 critical care at the hospital.

I’m leading a working group pursing every angle to ensure we secure the additional clinicians needed to deliver level 3 care safely at FGH. That includes:

• Securing the funding needed for an improved research and education programme to attract nurses and medics.

• Ongoing discussions with Defence Medical Services to secure support including the potential for deployed defence medical personnel.

• Working to introduce robotic surgery at FGH which would improve patient outcomes and help attract clinicians to the hospital.

The hospital continues to report progress on recruitment over the summer which means that they are getting closer to the numbers needed to deliver a safe service.

I am really pleased with the latest updates, but there are no guarantees and I am told that they are not yet in a place where they can safely reinstate ongoing level 3 care, or provide guarantees around if or when this could happen. However, I believe that the progress being made now on recruitment shows that the ICB was wrong to look at permanently closing level 3 critical care rather than working to fix the recruitment challenges we have seen over the years.

The ICB has confirmed that it has delayed the decision on whether it will permanently close level 3 care at FGH will be made before October 2027 and I am fighting to make sure that does not happen.