Plan for new Royal Preston Hospital will continue – even if its future is uncertain

Royal Preston Hospital Emergency Department Pic: Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Work will continue on plans for new hospitals in Preston and Lancaster – even while the government decides whether either of them will ever actually be built.

It comes after the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) last week confirmed that the proposed new Royal Preston and Royal Lancaster Infirmary facilities will form part of its review of the “40 new hospitals” promised by the previous Conservative administration.

The reassessment process was announced back in July, but the government has now exempted 12 schemes from its scope – either because they have full business cases already approved or the current buildings contain the dangerous material dubbed ‘crumbling concrete’.

However, the Preston and Lancaster projects fall into neither of those categories and so will now be reviewed to determine their deliverability. The DHSC has said the work will be completed “as soon as possible”.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said of the nationwide New Hospitals Programme (NHP) for 40 new builds by 2030 that it was “not deliverable in that timeframe” – and that a “realistic” and “costed” timeline was needed. The previous government had already pushed the timetable for the Lancashire projects back to the mid-2030s – but they have nevertheless still formed part of the Labour-ordered review.

As the LDRS revealed last month, the business cases for brand new Royal Preston and Royal Lancaster hospitals were progressing through both local and national approvals processes when the review was announced.

Local NHS bosses have now told the LDRS that activity is continuing pending the outcome of the government assessment.

A spokesperson for the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria said: “We have welcomed the review and the opportunity it provides us in ensuring the programme is on the soundest possible footing for delivery.

“On 20th September, we received the review’s terms of reference and acknowledge that the review is being undertaken at pace for a swift conclusion on the changes to be made ensuring an affordable and realistic delivery schedule.

“Whilst the review is taking place – and in the period between the review ending and the outcome being confirmed and communicated – all schemes within the NHP will be supported appropriately to continue to make progress. As soon as we are in a position to communicate anything further, we will do so.”

How will the government decide?

The Department for Health and Social Care says its review will present “a full range of options to be taken forward for the overall size and ambition of the programme to provide a clear approach…going forward”.

According to the terms of reference for the process, it will assess “the appropriate schedule for delivery [of] schemes…in the context of overall constraints to hospital building and wider health infrastructure priorities, while also looking at where improvements can be made”.

“Key data will be collated for each of the hospitals falling within the scope of the review, including criteria around clinical outcomes, deliverability, cost and estate condition.

“The hospitals in scope will be prioritised according to the criteria. The review will look at the possible timelines for delivery [of] each scheme, along with clinical considerations, risk and cost profiles. Options and recommendations for phasing of the programme will then be established for ministers to consider.”

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