Push to build hospital 'bit by bit' as politicians clash over delay

The government is being lobbied to build the new Royal Preston Hospital “in stages” so that some of its key services can open sooner than they would under the current long-delayed timetable.

- by Paul Faulkner

The replacement building - provisionally earmarked for a site in the Farington area of South Ribble - had been due to begin operating by the mid-2030s.

However, the government announced in January that construction work on the £2bn scheme would not now begin until between 2037 and 2039, pushing completion back into the early-mid 2040s.

Ribble Valley MP Maya Ellis, in whose constituency the Royal Preston's current Fulwood site sits, told the Lancashire Post she had been talking to ministers about the possibility of a phased development.

The Labour MP made the revelation in response to being accused of failing residents by voting against a parliamentary bid to speed up the process of replacing the ageing hospital.

A Liberal Democrat opposition day motion in the Commons last week called on the government to “reverse the delay” to the nationwide New Hospital Programme, of which the Royal Preston is a part.

Coun John Potter, who leads the Lib Dem opposition group on Preston City Council, condemned local Labour MPs for not backing his party’s push, and taking Central Lancashire “for granted”.