THOSE fighting to save hospital beds across Cumbria believe they have been handed a lifeline ahead of tomorrow’s crucial decision.

Community hospitals in Wigton, Maryport and Alston are set to lose all their beds, while the main Carlisle and Whitehaven hospitals would see their combined bed numbers drop by 100 if the Success Regime’s plan is approved.

Yet new rules being introduced by NHS England boss Simon Stevens could throw a major spanner in the works, making it much tougher to slash bed numbers without first proving that proper alternatives are in place.

Mr Stevens made the announcement in a speech at the Nuffield Trust’s health policy conference on Friday, much to the delight of local campaigners.

He said England’s aging population inevitably means more emergency admissions, while pressures on A&E departments are being compounded by the sharp rise in patients stuck in beds awaiting home care or care home places.

He therefore stressed that: “There can no longer be an automatic assumption that it’s okay to slash many thousands of extra hospital beds, unless and until there really are better alternatives in place for patients.”

The move follows criticism of the NHS for allowing beds numbers in England to fall by 20 per cent over the past 10 years. Figures show that about 15,000 beds have disappeared since 2010, yet demand at A&E and on ambulance services is rising. Social care is also struggling with a funding crisis.

In Cumbria campaigners have repeatedly flagged these issues up to bosses as part of the Success Regime’s public consultation.

They argue that plans to care for more people at home simply aren’t workable due to a huge shortage of care in the community and warn that cutting cottage hospital beds will simply add to bed-blocking problems in the main hospitals.

And it is feared that cutting beds at the already overstretched Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital will further exacerbate their problems.

The News & Star , as part our Save Our Services campaign, also set out similar concerns in a formal letter to local health chiefs.

Now campaigners hope Mr Stevens' new rules, which will come into force in April, will force a rethink of the entire Success Regime plan.

Jane Mayes, a community hospital campaigner from Alston, said: “The tide has turned against hospital bed cuts at last - NHS England boss Simon Stevens now says bed cuts must cease from April 1 unless hospitals can pass a new test showing that there are 'better alternatives' in the area served by the hospital.

“This means that if bed cuts are to go ahead at West Cumberland Hospital and the Cumberland Infirmary then the community hospitals at Maryport, Wigton and Alston will need to stay open to provide the alternative care the new rules demand.

“And if the community hospitals are to lose their beds then there must be ‘better alternatives’ available to replace them - which there are not.”

NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) governing body will decide tomorrow whether to accept the Success Regime plans.

She called on members to think carefully before taking any decisions, and warned they would be held to account if the alternatives aren’t there.

“Will the CCG try to inflict the Success Regime recommendations on us before the cut-off date of April 1? Will they try to pretend that there are ‘better alternatives’?,” asked Ms Mayes.

“There are no alternative provisions in place for the loss of the community hospitals and the CCG knows this. The Integrated Care Community (ICC) hubs are not in place yet and the social care budget is woefully inadequate.”

She said the Success Regime’s plan - which also includes downgrading maternity, children’s and other urgent care services - is hanging by a thread.

“The NHS England boss has taken the ground from under their feet and made it politically impossible for them to close them, while Theresa May has made it politically impossible to close maternity services in West Cumbria with her apparent promise to new Copeland MP Trudy Harrison for a ‘review’ of maternity services,” she added.

League of friends groups at the three most threatened community hospitals have drawn up alternative plans to keep the beds open and expand the facilities, allowing staff to deliver more care close to home while also having beds available when necessary. They also want to join up NHS and social care, in line with national plans.