The Mail

Save Our ICU

2025

The Mail in Cumbria launched its major new campaign, Save Our ICU, to oppose plans to make the temporary suspension of Level Three ICU care at Furness General Hospital permanent.

The campaign was sparked by the announcement on July 15 from the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, whose preferred option would see the most seriously ill patients in Barrow and Furness permanently transferred to hospitals outside the area for the highest level of intensive care.

Backed by community voices, local leaders, and health advocates, including councillor Fred Chatfield, the mayor of Barrow, The Mail launched its campaign to stand up for patients in Furness who face being left without access to vital care on their doorstep.

The Mail’s campaign is led by its South Cumbria newsroom and supported by Barrow and Furness MP Michelle Scrogham, who launched a petition now signed by over 13,300 residents. In Parliament, she expressed her gratitude to those who had signed the petition, as well as to The Mail for their support.

Tom Murphy, head of digital for Newsquest Cumbria, said: “Furness General Hospital holds a special place in many of our lives. The proposed permanent downgrade of the ICU could be a disastrous move for many local families. Since the proposal was revealed there has been an outpouring of anger – and rightly so.

“Potentially moving the sickest patients to Lancaster will leave families with long trips to see loved ones and there is also the issue of what happens if the A590, as it is so often, is shut.

“The Mail’s campaign will show health bosses how strongly people do not want this to happen and we urge them to find a way to recruit the necessary staff to keep it going.”

Among those to speak out are the family of Lioness Georgia Stanway, whose grandmother was saved by the FGH ICU, and a former Barrow priest whose son survived thanks to the care received at the unit. These are just some of the scores of testimonies The Mail has published since the campaign launched on July 19 – all underlining the same message: this service must be protected.

The issue is due to be scrutinised at a key meeting of the Westmorland and Furness Council’s health and adult scrutiny committee in Barrow in September, with a final decision by the ICB expected at its formal governance meeting in October.

The Mail is calling on residents, NHS staff, councillors, and all who care about the future of healthcare in Furness to add their names to the petition and speak out.