The most recent national NHS statistics show £57.7m would be required to clear the repair backlog that has built up at the ageing Sharoe Green Lane site. Advertisement Advertisement While that bill would be eye-watering enough, it is dwarfed by the £157m local NHS bosses have previously claimed would have to be invested to bring the facilities up to scratch.
Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Lancashire Evening Post, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. The higher figure formed part of the so-called “case for change” made to the government in 2021, setting out the need for at least one new hospital to cover Central and Northern Lancashire. The following year it was a key element of a bold - and ultimately successful - bid from the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria for the cash needed to build two brand new hospitals to replace both the Royal Preston and Royal Lancaster Infirmary.
Advertisement Advertisement The Lancashire Post reveals the huge disparity between the two maintenance tallies amidst the government’s ongoing review of the nationwide new hospitals programme, which will determine whether the new-build facilities in Lancashire ever come to fruition . The £57m figure is a provisional one emanating from the NHS Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC) - published by the Press Association - which is a measure of how much funding would be nee.