MP demands guarantee over plans for new Royal Lancaster Infirmary

A Cumbrian MP has written to the Government demanding a promise that plans for a new Royal Lancaster Infirmary will go ahead.

South Cumbrian health bosses want to see a new hospital in Lancaster to replace the existing site of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, with cutting-edge facilities, to offer the best in modern healthcare and addressing significant problems with the current ageing hospital buildings.

Work has been underway to assess the viability of potential locations for new hospital builds for the infirmary. Following an initial land search, the NHS is assessing each site, including environmental and planning considerations, capacity for utilities and high-level design, as well as undertaking travel and transport analysis to understand accessibility.

However, following reports in the i newspaper that the Conservatives manifesto pledge to build 40 new hospitals would be ‘scaled back’, Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron has written to Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey to guarantee that the plans will go ahead.

He has also asked the new Health Secretary to consider the growing support for either J34 or 35 along the M6 to be chosen as the new site.

Mr Farron said: “This is a great opportunity for us to move A&E closer to residents in the South Lakes. However, recent reports have cast doubt on the plans and indicate we are to expect yet another Conservative government U-turn. That is why I have written to the new Health Secretary demanding a guarantee that this new hospital gets built.”