Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated for the development of proposals for the replacement of Royal Preston Hospital and Lancaster Royal Infirmary; to which body has the money been allocated, and who will carry out the work; what are the terms of reference of the work, and to what extent may it take into consideration the sites and services in other parts of the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trusts; whether they can include proposals for any services currently provided by other NHS Trusts including the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; and when they expect these proposals and options to be published.

The Health Infrastructure Plan set out this Government’s approach to long-term investment in the healthcare system to ensure both staff and patients continue to have access to world-class facilities. In line with this, the Department provided both the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust with £3.7 million each of seed funding to kick-start their schemes and to support both trusts in their development of plans for improving facilities for the staff and patients of their communities.

The two neighbouring trusts have been, and continue to, work in close collaboration to develop different options for how to proceed that represent the best outcome for the area as a whole. These plans are in the early stage of their development and when developed further, will be subject to public consultation as an integral part in developing the collective and cohesive strategy.