The following year this was a key element of a bold and ultimately successful bid by the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria for the cash needed to build two new hospitals to replace both the Royal Preston and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reveals the huge disparity between the two care calculations as the government reviews its nationwide new hospitals program, which will determine whether new-build facilities in Lancashire come to fruition.

The £57m figure is a provisional figure originating from the NHS Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC) published by the Press Association; this is a measure of how much funding a hospital trust will need to bring its buildings into “good condition”. It only estimates the cost of maintenance work that must have already occurred, rather than any maintenance planned for the future.

However, this distinction is unlikely to explain the gap between the two calculations, since the total included in the change case document also indicates a “backlog”; This suggests that he is also somehow referring to overdue work.

LDRS understands that the estimated £157 million repair bill is based on an externally commissioned survey carried out on behalf of the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria, and that this represents a more comprehensive assessment of Royal Preston’s property than is available from the available data. It feeds into ERIC.

Six elements of the Fulwood facility were questioned in the amendment lawsuit: its physical condition, suitability, overall quality, ability to comply with legal codes, environmental management and disabled access.

The damning conclusion of the report – issued collectively on the Royal Preston, Royal Lancaster and Furness General hospitals – was that the estate was “collapsing”.

He added: “We must tell the truth about this. Under these conditions, we cannot even provide care for the 20th century, let alone the 21st century.

“We are now in a critical situation regarding the condition of some properties. The depth and scope of the problems…are unprecedented. (The three hospitals) make up some of the worst hospitals in the North West, if not the country.

Although the New Labor government’s review of the previous Tory administration’s new hospital program gave the new Royal Preston the green light, former Conservative ministers had postponed the planned opening date of the new facility from an earlier target to the mid-2030s. 2030.

Last year, following this announcement, the then chief executive of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTH), which runs Royal Preston, told a board meeting that the existing hospital would continue to receive investment “as appropriate”. .

But Kevin McGee also cautioned that the question of “how much…are we investing” in the property, which was largely built between the mid-1970s and early 1980s, must ultimately be addressed.

LDRS approached LTH and the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board for comment on the difference between care backlog estimates held by the NHS nationally and those reported in the event of changes.

The ERIC system shows that LTH as a whole needs £69.5 million to undertake all overdue repairs, when the trust’s other facilities, including Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, are taken into account. It is stated that approximately £4.6 million of this total is required for repairs. Address “high risk” repairs.

The cost of running LTH stood at £71.1 million last year.

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