The final public consultation meeting on the future of healthcare in north and west Cumbria saw passionate pleas to retain services.

After two months of heated discussions, passionate debate and moving personal stories, the last questions were put to a panel of health chiefs putting forward the Success Regime proposals.

About 200 people packed into Egremont’s Falcon Club to hear about the difficulties surrounding the health of the west Cumbrian population, staff recruitment, too many hospital admissions and “inadequate services”.

The crowd was also informed of the return to the West Cumberland Hospital of acute surgery, increased planned surgery, a major new diagnostic suite and more people treated than ever before.

However, after 17 public consultations, the meeting showed that the anger over the proposals – including downgrading maternity, children’s services and the removal of emergency stroke care at Whitehaven – remained undimmed with fears undiminished.

Issues raised at the meeting, which also saw midwives and GPs in the crowd, included the impact on families if children were to be treated at Carlisle, who takes priority when an ambulance is needed, the pressure on GPs and the condition of the west Cumbrian roads.

The panel included Anna Stabler, deputy midwifery director at the North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust; Dr John Howarth, professor of primary care at UCLAN; and Peter Rooney, of the NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group.

One member of the public, Les Hanley, said outside of the county, little was known of west Cumbria and there should be a bigger effort to “show who we are and where we are” to help recruitment.

With the introduction of a new medical centre, based at Westlakes, there was a “major opportunity for young doctors to split their time between working at the hospital” and learning new techniques and procedures, he said.

“It is all down to partnership working. West Cumbria could be a strong area to recruit to...but it is not being done at the moment.”

Alan Hall told the health panel that “the majority of the people in the room” thought things were “going backwards not forwards”. And he spoke movingly about how his grandchild was saved by staff at the West Cumberland Hospital.

“If it hadn’t been for the WCH, the baby wouldn’t have been here.”

While Dave Allison asked the health chiefs what they were doing to “entice” new staff into the area. Ms Stabler said the trust was still “actively recruiting” and offering permanent contracts.

While the panel said decisions had to be made on safely delivering services, the passionate audience heard from a local midwife that “tragedies would happen”, a west Cumbrian doctor said GPs were “on their knees” and splitting families who had to travel to Carlisle following the transfer of their sick children could only add to the “pressure and stress”.

A decision on the health proposals looks set for spring 2017.