A statement issued in October 2020 revealed that the Government is considering replacing both hospitals and either building two new ones or building a superhospital on the M6 corridor.
But on Tuesday (March 10), the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria revealed that the idea had been discounted from the shortlist after “detailed consideration”.
The shortlist reflects feedback collected from more than 12,000 local people, patients, NHS staff, community representatives and stakeholders over the past year.
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The i newsletter cut through the noise
Many readers felt that the existing Royal Preston Hospital site was in urgent need of renovation.
Here is a selection of what our readers had to say on our Facebook page.
Steph Wood: RPH needs to be a new hospital. The hospital bays are not big enough, the corridors are not wide enough to accommodate equipment and bypass patient beds, there is not enough storage, the recovery department is not big enough.
Tracey Mawson Lockie: Get rid of the ‘waste of time’ middle management that goes around all day with coffee cups and that would free up more than enough money to renovate the existing hospitals !! These people serve no purpose other than to dictate to their underestimated staff and accelerate their already inflated egos !!
Jane Kitchen: My personal opinion is The farm at RPH just isn’t big enough to deliver the most up-to-date maintenance we need and trying to extend / modernize is too expensive, so we really need proper new construction like others. said green space, adequate parking for employees and visitors that will not bother local residents wards that allow dignified care and the right level of individual rooms that support infection control, with A&E / emergency care center that can meet the growing growth. demand of our population. If we have a specially built state-of-the-art facility, we will also attract employees who want to work in it.
Christine Seed Green: I knew this was going to happen when they set up the new Nightingale Hospital on the parking lot. Wait for it for another 20 years now even though it was intended to be temporary. They may build something permanent there someday but anyway, we won’t get back the parking lots that are so much needed for those who depend on their cars for regular appointments and emergencies.
Mala Watson: How often does this happen with new ideas! The amount of time and money it takes people to put together these plans and visualize just to end it that way!
Annmarie Tilston: Open Chorley Hospital again right, full time AE give not only to the doctors and nurses a pay raise, give it also to the nurses.
Rodger Bradley: Another example of kicking it into the long grass to save money. They speak a good case, but actions speak louder than words. They don’t even have proper integration of IT systems, whether databases, data sharing, backup, references, and so on. But hey, let’s have another consultation or survey, followed by weeks and months of nothing.
Melissa Maudsley: I think they both need partial reconstruction. The hospitals need to stay where they are, but they both definitely need an upgrade.
Benny Clarke: Something needs sorting. My wife was in RPH on Sunday and spent 2 days moving into side rooms A&E with sepsis and severe pneumonia and her release notes said she was only on Tuesday.
Helen Spear: Rather than superhospitals, why don’t we have top salaries for great staff! It will attract more to the professions, retain them and reduce the need to merge.
Susan Walsh: Spending all that money on a supercycle highway all around Preston but having a dilapidated hospital and no cash for a new one.
Joanne Griffiths: They need both hospitals and a super hospital to reduce the waiting times of seriously ill people and people sitting in corridors, sleeping on floors and ambulances lining up.