National Health Service trusts make decisions locally on their use of temporary facilities, in line with delivering clinical services.

Any temporary facility must meet the same Health Building Notice and Health Technical Memorandum safety, environmental, fire, clinical, and other standards as a permanent healthcare building.

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome

As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive.

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome

As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive.

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome

As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive.

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome

As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive.

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome

As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive.

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

As part of the management of their estate, National Health Service trusts regularly assess the physical condition of their estate. NHS England’s annual Estates Returns Information Collection collects data from trusts on the quality of their estate annually, including the projected cost of bringing all the buildings on each NHS site into acceptable condition, recorded as backlog maintenance. The latest published data on backlog maintenance, for 2024/25, is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2024-25

Hospitals in the New Hospital Programme, including the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, continue to receive support for maintenance and repairs. In addition to operational capital, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has been provided with £3.3 million from the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund for works at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

I can absolutely assure the hon. Lady that we remain fully committed to those 40 hospitals from our manifesto. Indeed, we have already provided £3.9 billion-worth of initial capital.

The Royal Lancaster Infirmary is a 130-year-old crumbling hospital. It was meant to be one of the Government’s 40 new hospitals. However, the funding announcement has been delayed four times already. Can the Deputy Prime Minister reassure my constituents that this is not going to be another broken Tory promise?

The Health Infrastructure Plan set out the Government’s approach to long-term investment in our healthcare system to ensure staff and patients continue to have access to world class facilities. In line with this, the Department provided both the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust with £3.7 million each of seed funding to kick-start their schemes and to support both trusts in their development of plans for improving facilities for the staff and patients of the their communities, looking at potential rebuild options for the Royal Preston Infirmary, the Lancaster Royal Infirmary and Furness General Hospital.

The two neighbouring trusts have been, and continue to, work in close collaboration to develop different options for how to proceed that represent the best outcome for the area as a whole, which may include an option for two separate hospitals. These plans are in the early stage of their development and when developed further, will be subject to public consultation as an integral part in developing the collective and cohesive strategy.

The Health Infrastructure Plan set out this Government’s approach to long-term investment in the healthcare system to ensure both staff and patients continue to have access to world-class facilities. In line with this, the Department provided both the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust with £3.7 million each of seed funding to kick-start their schemes and to support both trusts in their development of plans for improving facilities for the staff and patients of their communities.

The two neighbouring trusts have been, and continue to, work in close collaboration to develop different options for how to proceed that represent the best outcome for the area as a whole. These plans are in the early stage of their development and when developed further, will be subject to public consultation as an integral part in developing the collective and cohesive strategy.

The following tables show counts of finished delivery episodes for Westmorland General Hospital, Lancaster Royal Infirmary and Furness General Hospital site of treatment, for the years 2009-10 to 2018-19.

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

Data relating to the number of births recorded at individual hospitals is not collected centrally. There is a count made of delivery episodes at each trust, however, delivery episodes reflect the number of deliveries rather than births. There can be multiple births within a single delivery episode.

The following table shows a count of the delivery episodes recorded in the last 10 years at the trusts local to Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Furness General Hospital and Westmorland General Hospital.

Information on the number of cancer-related operations is not held centrally.

The information on the number of chemotherapy treatments undertaken is not available in the format requested. A count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) data with a primary diagnosis of cancer, receiving a treatment of chemotherapy is provided for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, between the years 2007-08 to 2016-17 and is attached.

Nationally there has been a continuing rise in demand for cancer services, with urgent general practitioner referrals for cancer rising by over 70,000 compared to last year.

Achieving the 62-day standard was a key objective in the Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 and this has been rolled forward into 2018-19. NHS England is investing this year in initiatives to recover and maintain the 62-day standard nationally, such as pathway coordinators and timed, standardised pathways.

The National Health Service is committed to achieving the 62-day cancer waiting times standard in 2018/19, and to maintaining performance against the other cancer waiting times standards.

Information on the number of cancer-related operations is not held centrally.

The information on the number of chemotherapy treatments undertaken is not available in the format requested. A count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) data with a primary diagnosis of cancer, receiving a treatment of chemotherapy is provided for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, between the years 2007-08 to 2016-17 and is attached.

Nationally there has been a continuing rise in demand for cancer services, with urgent general practitioner referrals for cancer rising by over 70,000 compared to last year.

Achieving the 62-day standard was a key objective in the Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 and this has been rolled forward into 2018-19. NHS England is investing this year in initiatives to recover and maintain the 62-day standard nationally, such as pathway coordinators and timed, standardised pathways.

The National Health Service is committed to achieving the 62-day cancer waiting times standard in 2018/19, and to maintaining performance against the other cancer waiting times standards.

I would like to reassure my hon. Friend that there are no plans and never have been any plans to close the accident and emergency department at Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the fact that it is wrong of any political party—in this case, the Labour party—to focus on scaremongering when there is no basis in truth. At no point have there been plans to close Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

I thank my hon. Friend for that robust answer. Does he agree that the local Labour party fabricated the scare story that the A and E department was going to close? It was never going to close, as he has just stated. Will he assist me in taking the local Labour party’s bogus petition offline?

On 5 and 7 February 2013, my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris) spoke in the House about the e-petition about concerns regarding the future of the accident and emergency, maternity and intensive care units at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI). The remarks were made during parliamentary debates on health matters and were noted by Health Ministers.

No further representations on this matter have been received by Health Ministers.

The provision of local health services, including those provided at the RLI, is a matter for the local NHS. RLI is part of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, and we understand that the trust is working with local commissioners to review the future of its hospital services. This work is at an early stage and no options for change have been put forward.

We have set out strengthened criteria that NHS service changes must meet. They must demonstrate strengthened public and patient engagement; consider patient choice; have support from general practitioner commissioners; and be based on sound clinical evidence. Should proposals

be put forward for significant change to services at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, commissioners will need to be assured they meet these tests.