Hospital consultation suspended after delay news

The chief executive of the trust which runs the Royal Preston Hospital said the delays are disappointing

A public consultation to get people's views on where two new hospitals should be built has been suspended indefinitely after the government announced they would be delayed for at least 10 years.

Ministers said replacement sites for the Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary in Lancashire would be constructed between 2035 and 2039.

Under the proposals, both hospitals would be replaced with new establishments built at Bailrigg East and Farington.

Whitehall has said there is no money to replace the hospitals before then.

A survey and a series of drop-in events in February and March were launched last week, the first opportunity residents have had to have their say on where the long-promised facilities are built.

However, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the previous Conservative administration's promise to build 40 new hospitals across England was a "work of fiction", and not affordable.

Following a funding review, he said on Monday a new "honest, funded, serious, and credible" plan was now in place.

'Significant delay'

Construction in Preston will not begin until between 2037 and 2039, while the window for Lancaster has been set at 2035-2038.

The new sites had been expected to be open by then under the previous timetable for the work, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The NHS said the "significant delay" means it has had to make "the difficult decision to suspend public engagement on the proposed sites" until further notice.

The survey will also be shut down on Monday, months earlier than planned, although a commitment has been made to analysing the responses received so far, for which local health leaders have thanked residents and hospital staff.

Prof Silas Nicholls, chief executive of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Preston, and Aaron Cummins, chief executive of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust which operates the Royal Lancaster, have both said the delays were "disappointing".

However, Prof Nicholls also said: "We welcome the government's commitment to delivering the hospital albeit over a more sustainable timeframe."

Mr Cummings added: "Whilst this may not be the news local communities wanted, we hope the outcome brings some certainty that patients and NHS colleagues will get the new hospital they deserve."