Proposed sites earmarked for two new hospitals in Lancashire
The NHS has revealed where it wants to build two new hospitals in Lancashire.
The brand new "cutting-edge facilities" will replace the Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary with "next generation" facilities and technologies as part of the programme of national investment through the New Hospital Programme.
If the preferred locations get the go-ahead, the new Royal Preston will be built on land off Stanifield Lane in Farington, close to the junction of the M65 and M6.
The proposed plot is close to the site that was once earmarked for a new IKEA store and lies in South Ribble - eight miles from the city’s existing hospital in Fulwood.
Meanwhile, the new Royal Lancaster Infirmary has been earmarked for a site at Bailrigg East - between the A6 and the M6 - just north of Lancaster University’s Health Innovation Campus. The land is around two miles south of the current facility.
Proposals for investment in Furness General Hospital’s infrastructure are also in development, the trust said.
Health bosses are keen to stress no final decisions have been taken, and full public consultations into the proposals will be carried out before the blueprints - which would also require planning permission - are given final approval.
The land agreements have been reached even before the conclusion of the government’s ongoing review into the nationwide new hospitals programme, of which the Preston and Lancaster facilities are a part.
Shortly after the new Labour administration came to power in the summer, Health Secretary Wes Streeting ordered the reassessment of the majority of the more 40 projects given the green light by the previous Conservative government.
He told the Commons that the schemes were “not deliverable” within the 2030 timeframe that had been set for them, his comments coming in the context of the “£22bn black hole” Labour said it had uncovered in the nation’s finances.
However, the Preston and Lancaster new builds had already seen their proposed completion dates pushed back to the mid-2030s by the last government, raising hopes that they might be unaffected by the review.
Professor Silas Nicholls, Chief Executive of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Securing our preferred site is a huge step forward in our bid to create a state-of-the-art new hospital to replace Royal Preston Hospital. This would provide major trauma and specialist services to the population of Lancashire and South Cumbria and acute hospital services to Central Lancashire.
“A new hospital will improve quality, safety and patient experience and have a transformative impact on the services we will be able to provide on-site and in our wider communities, so we can meet the needs of our patients and future generations.
“In addition, it would drive much-needed investment to the region, acting as the catalyst for future jobs, skills, research and further economic development opportunities.”
Chief Executive of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, Aaron Cummins, added: “A new hospital on a new site in Lancaster will allow us to fully address the significant problems that we face with the current ageing buildings at Royal Lancaster Infirmary and will bring huge benefits to our communities and to the wider economy.
“We have the opportunity to create a legacy, with a hospital specifically designed for the needs of our population, improving their experience and giving them the best clinical care. We additionally have significant ambitions to create facilities that are digitally innovative, much more cost effective, and with a reduced carbon footprint.”
The existing Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary sites will remain in place and deliver services until new hospital facilities are opened.
The two new hospitals are part of a wider programme considering how clinical services are configured across all acute hospital sites in Lancashire and South Cumbria to meet the needs of the population in the future.