GENERAL ELECTION: Candidates debate plans for 'new £1.2bn Lancaster hospital by 2033'

Plans for a new hospital at Lancaster have come under the microscope on the general election campaign trail.

David Morris, Conservative candidate for Morecambe and Lunesdale, says that a new £1.2bn hospital will be built at Lancaster in 2033.

But political rivals questioned this during a Beyond Radio debate about local NHS services.

LISTEN: Morecambe & Lunesdale 'Beyond the Ballot' debate - Beyond Radio

A new hospital at Lancaster is part of the Conservative government's New Hospitals Programme, but plans remain at an early stage.

During the debate, Labour candidate Lizzi Collinge (below) said the Tories "couldn't organise their way out of a wet paper bag" over the NHS.

"The widespread problems we have with our NHS are not just about money," she said.

"A far bigger issue in the NHS is staffing and workforce. We haven't had a proper workforce plan for over a decade.

"We have massive problems with retaining, training and recruiting qualified staff. The demand on the NHS has gone up vastly. We need to tackle it at the root cause. 

"We need to stop people getting poorly, we need to make sure they have access to GP appointments, and we need to make sure that instead of ending up in hospital, people get early help, which is particularly poignant in mental health.

"The problems we have in our NHS are of demand, and the problems are of management.

"It is about simple competence. We have a government that couldn't organise its way out of a wet paper bag."

In response, David Morris (below) said: "There have been more doctors and nurses trained up since 2010.

"The big problem is management. I've had my fair share of going into hospital over the past five years. I've spoken to the consultants who have worked on me. They've said a litigation culture is slowing everything up. And of course Covid has put another backlog on the back of that.

"We had to change the laws to make (health) trusts accountable. It took a Conservative coalition government to sort that out. We had a lot of problems here. We did a lot of changes within the NHS, especially local, to make this trust a good trust.

"One of the things that's always been needed here is a new hospital. We've got a good hospital, we've got good staff, and those good people have turned this hospital trust around because of the bad management from the previous government that was running things. 

"We need a new hospital and that's why I got the funding for a £1.2bn hospital that's going to be built somewhere in Lancaster. We're just waiting for the planning on that. It was allocated. It's in the New Hospitals Programme.

"2033 it's going to be opening, that's what we've been told. That's when they're going to start building it. We have rumours where it's going to be built. I can't say. It was actually brought up on the floor of the House of Commons, by Steve Barclay."

But Peter Jackson, Liberal Democrat candidate, said: "We have no idea where it will be built. We certainly don't have planning permission."

And Gina Dowding, Green Party candidate, said: "We don't even have a planning application."

Read more: Plans for new state-of-the-art Lancaster hospital move step closer - Beyond Radio

Lancaster's new hospital - the story so far

The Conservative government's New Hospitals Programme - the biggest hospital building programme in a generation - aims to develop cutting-edge facilities, offering the "absolute best in modern healthcare and address significant problems with the current ageing hospital buildings".

Lancashire and South Cumbria New Hospitals Programme was originally part of the government's pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.

In May 2023, the-then Secretary of State for Health Stephen Barclay said that the government was "committed" to building a new hospital in Lancaster as he announced plans to pump £20bn into the nationwide hospitals project.

Mr Barclay said the scheme would "continue to progress" and support would be given to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) to "carry out early works in advance of main construction" of a new hospital.

David Morris, then-MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, hailed this news at the time as "absolutely huge for the whole population in North Lancashire, we are getting a brand new state of the art hospital" saying it "will be completed shortly after 2030".

The local NHS including the health trust in charge of the RLI also welcomed the news. 

But Cat Smith, then-MP for Lancaster who is a Labour candidate for Lancaster & Wyre in the upcoming election, (pictured below), said Mr Barclay's announcement in Parliament wasn't what she'd hoped for as it "contained no specifics" of funding for a Lancaster hospital.

And the Health Service Journal said that Lancaster was one of eight schemes to be "pushed back" from an original 2030 target date.

During his May 2023 speech, Mr Barclay said the £20bn funding, which he called 'Hospitals 2.0', had been divided into cohorts 1 to 4, with construction of new hospitals in cohort 1 having already started.

He said that hospitals in cohort 2 and cohort 3 would "proceed and be fully funded" and most cohort 4 hospitals "remained on track for completion by 2030".

He also said a new surgical hub will be opened at the Royal Preston Hospital, due to be completed this year, and said "we will reconfigure services across two Trusts and one of those sites...is near Chorley".

There was no specific mention of Lancaster in his speech.

David Morris then asked Mr Barclay about the plans for Lancaster.

"This is marvellous news across the country, but I would like to ask the Secretary of State the decision on Lancaster," said Mr Morris.

"I have heard that we may be getting a new hospital, it may be further down the line, however we are in need of one and I know that any news he can give us would be fantastic news not only to myself after all of the lobbying I have done...but it will be also welcome news by (Cat Smith)."

Mr Barclay replied: "The (Morecambe Bay NHS) Trust is at a very early stage in terms of considering, for example, what public consultation will be needed around the reconfiguration of services across Lancaster.

"We're not letting that stop us in terms of work, for example, opening a new surgical hub at Royal Preston.

"As he knows, I know the geography very well in terms of the interaction with Lancaster.

"There are a number of options around consolidation and expanding services onto two sites and I look forward to having discussions with him as we take that forward."

Mr Morris said afterwards that Lancaster will be in cohort 4.

"Today’s decision is absolutely huge for the whole population in North Lancashire, we are getting a brand new state of the art hospital," he said.

In January 2024, Cat Smith asked health secretary Victoria Atkins in the Houses of Parliament about the plans for a new hospital and if Lancaster had been "forgotten about".

The health secretary said she would "look into this matter for her".

Afterwards Ms Smith said the "funding for the rebuild of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary has been delayed four times now".

This week Mr Morris released an election campaign video with Victoria Atkins, who said "we have plans to bring a new hospital into Lancaster".

"It's going to take us a bit of time but we are absolutely determined to do this."

She also accused Labour of planning to delay the new Lancaster hospital as they'd pledged to pause all capital projects within the NHS should they be elected on July 4.

But Labour's manifesto says that they are "committed to delivering the New Hospitals Programme".

Read more: GENERAL ELECTION: David Morris and Gina Dowding clash over housing in Morecambe & Lunesdale - Beyond Radio

GENERAL ELECTION: All five Morecambe candidates vow to honour Eden Project funding - Beyond Radio

GENERAL ELECTION: Morecambe and Lunesdale candidates lay out their visions for the future - Beyond Radio

GENERAL ELECTION: David Morris challenged on 'falling child poverty' claims - Beyond Radio