Hospital bosses left facing £157m maintenance bill

Plans to build a replacement for the Royal Preston Hospital have been delayed

A "significant" amount of money is needed to maintain an ageing Lancashire hospital after plans to replace it were delayed by up to a decade, an NHS trust has said.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the Royal Preston Hospital in Fulwood had a £157m maintenance work backlog that dated back to 2021.

Plans to build a new hospital for central Lancashire have been postponed until at least 2037, the government said.

The sum required to maintain the Royal Preston was highlighted by health bosses when they made the case for funding the construction of a replacement hospital.

'Poor condition'

Almost 70% of the Royal Preston's facilities were built between 1975 and 1984, with a report saying those from that era were in a state of "serious dilapidation".

It said the repair bill was the amount required to "return the estate to an operationally sound condition", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Work on building a new hospital, which had given the green light just over 18 months ago, was expected to begin in the early 2030s, with an opening date in the middle of that decade.

At the time, it was acknowledged that a balance would have to be struck as to how much money was invested in the current facilities.

But a Trust spokesperson said the longer timeframe - with the new hospital not now likely to open until the early 2040s - meant "significant additional capital funding" was required.

"We must also ensure our colleagues' working environment does not further deteriorate given the age and poor condition of the estate," the spokesperson added.