Warnings of need for significant investment in Royal Preston Hospital

A “significant” amount of extra money will have to be invested in the upkeep of the Royal Preston Hospital now that its replacement is well over a decade away.

That is the warning from the trust that runs the facility, in the wake of the government’s decision this week to postpone construction of a new hospital for Central Lancashire until between 2037 and 2039.

The current Royal Preston, on Sharoe Green Lane in Fulwood, is known to have a backlog of maintenance work totalling £157m.

The eye-watering sum – which dates back to 2021 – was highlighted by health bosses in order to make the successful case for funding a brand new building, rather than simply refurbishing the existing site.

Almost 70 percent of the Royal Preston’s facilities were built between 1975 and 1984, with those from that era described as being in a state of “serious dilapidation” in a report setting out why a new hospital was needed. The document said the repair bill was the amount required to “return the estate to an operationally sound condition”.

When the green light was given just over 18 months ago to construction of a new Royal – with building then expected to begin in the early 2030s and an opening date around the middle of that decade – it was acknowledged that a balance would have to be struck as to how much was invested in the current facilities as their shelf-life got shorter.

However, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust says the longer timeframe for delivery of a new hospital – now not likely to open until the early 2040s – has put a different complexion on those calculations.

A spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:  “Following news of a delay to the build of a replacement Royal Preston Hospital, the trust will need to review its comprehensive estate strategy against a new timeline.

“There is no doubt that significant additional capital funding will be needed to ensure patient services and health outcomes are not impacted by the delay.

“We must also ensure our colleagues’ working environment does not further deteriorate given the age and poor condition of the estate.”

The 2021 ‘Case for Change’ report noted that more than a third of the Royal Preston’s maintenance costs were related to the site’s “basic functional suitability due to changes or expansions in service provision within buildings designed for another purpose”. It also revealed that there were “episodes of flooding” in clinical areas – directly as a result of the age and condition of some buildings – which sometimes resulted in care being delayed.

As the LDRS revealed earlier this week, an engagement exercise to get the public’s thoughts on the proposed location of a new Royal Preston – in the Farington area of South Ribble, eight miles away from its current base – has now been indefinitely postponed.