New Royal Preston site secured - even though work not due to begin for more than a decade

The NHS has purchased the final plot of land needed to build a new Royal Preston Hospital – even though construction work is not due to begin for more than a decade.

The deal, with Lancashire County Council, means health chiefs now have full control of their preferred site for the facility, in the Farington area of South Ribble – eight miles from the hospital’s current home in Fulwood.

The provisional location – off Stanifield Lane, close to the junction of the M6 and M65, where a new IKEA store had once been planned – was announced in December 2024.

A public consultation into the move launched the following month, but was abandoned just a fortnight later after the Labour government delayed the start date for the estimated £2bn development to sometime between 2037 and 2039. It had previously been expected that the state-of-the-art new service would be open by the mid-2030s.

The anticipated completion of the project had already been pushed back from the turn of the decade by the previous Conservative administration, which had pledged to create “40 new hospitals” by 2030 – of which a replacement Royal Preston was one. After a review once they took office in 2024, Labour said the Tories had failed to put the finances in place for the full suite of schemes – and instead committed to a revised timetable.

The further delay means the first patients are unlikely to walk through the doors of the relocated Royal Preston until the early 2040s – although some politicians are pushing for an earlier start on the site.  

Meanwhile, health chiefs say the acquisition of the last tranche of land, which was completed on Monday, shows that the project is still on track – albeit over a much longer timeframe than previously envisaged.

Natalie Forrest, chief programme officer for the New Hospital Programme in Lancashire, said the purchase marked “an important milestone”.

“Securing the full site provides greater confidence in developing proposals for a modern, fit‑for‑purpose hospital that could serve patients and communities for generations to come, subject to public consultation.

“We look forward to supporting [Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Preston] as it moves into the next phase of engagement and planning,” Ms. Forrest said.

The NHS previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) it had “an exit strategy” for offloading the Farington site – along with another at Bailrigg East, earmarked for a new Royal Lancaster Infirmary – should it ultimately choose to build the facilities elsewhere.

Health leaders have stressed that the purchase of the remaining part of the 64-acre plot for the new Royal Preston does not mean a final decision has been taken on the location – and that they remain open to considering alternatives. The public will once again be asked for their thoughts later in the process.

If the hospital is ultimately built at the preferred spot – south of Stoney Lane, opposite the soon-to-open new Lancashire Cricket ground – it will stand alongside the county council’s planned ‘Lancashire Central’ development, at what is known as the Cuerden Strategic Regional Investment Site.

That scheme will see the authority develop a vast array of industrial, storage and office space – along with retail units, food and drink outlets, a drive-through restaurant, car showrooms, a leisure centre, gym, health facility and crèche. Planning permission was last year also granted for 74 new homes in the north-western corner of the site, down from a previously proposed 116.

As the LDRS revealed in 2024, maps published in connection with the planning application for Lancashire Central indicated that the new hospital would encompass a portion of the overall 65-hectare investment area previously owned by property specialists Brookhouse Group Limited.

However, the building would also have encroached onto part of the remaining tranche of land belonging to the county council – and it is that area that now appears to have been purchased.

Lancashire County Council’s then leader Phillippa Williamson committed in December 2024 to considering “changes” to the Lancashire Central scheme in order to “assist the Royal Preston site come forward”.

‘It makes no sense to move the Royal Preston out of Preston’

The prospect of the Royal Preston being relocated beyond the city’s borders was greeted with a mixed response when it was floated by NHS leaders just over a year ago.

Preston MP Sir Mark Hendrick said the proposed Farington site would be “in the wrong place for most of the people who require medical treatment” in the city.

He suggested that a refurbishment of the existing hospital on Sharoe Green Lane should be considered, along with the development of an urgent treatment unit in the city centre, to free up space in the main building.

Preston City Council leader Matthew Brown made a similar argument, having long been an advocate for a health facility in the heart of the city.   Earlier this month, plans were given the go-ahead to demolish St. John’s Shopping Centre and replace it with three, mostly residential, tower blocks – one of which also has space reserved within it for what is described as a “neighbourhood health centre”.

Speaking to the LDRS about the completion of the land deal for the Farington plot, Cllr Brown said: “We have made clear as a Labour council our strong preference is for a high quality refurbishment of RPH in its current location.

“Considering health inequalities remain greater in Preston, it makes little sense to move quality hospital services from where they are needed more to where they are needed less.

“Whilst any potential new hospital is around 15 years away, we will continue lobbying strongly with our MP, Mark Hendrick, to retain the facility here in Preston.”

Sir Mark has been approached for fresh comment about the latest development.

Meanwhile, South Ribble MP Paul Foster – in whose constituency the new Royal Preston would be built if it were to be developed at Farington – welcomed the land purchase and said he hoped construction could now be sped up.

“It’s a major milestone that’s been achieved by the Department of Health and Social Care and I’m exceptionally pleased we’ve managed to get this across the line.

“We’re looking now to meet with both the trust and government to explore every opportunity to bring forward certain elements of the new hospital programme in advance of the current build programme, which is still some time off.

“That said, securing the land is a major achievement which does now open up many opportunities. With continued lobbying, flexibility and commitment, I’m certain there is much we could start to consider delivering at the site fairly quickly,” Mr. Foster added.

Ribble Valley MP Maya Ellis, whose constituency incorporates the existing hospital site, has also previously pushed for a phased development of the new facility.

Meanwhile, Chorley MP Sir Lindsay Hoyle – who first suggested a new ‘super hospital’ be built at Cuerden after IKEA decided not to build there in 2018, said it was “welcome news” that the land had now been secured.

He added: “The dream of a new hospital which would serve the communities of Chorley, South Ribble and Preston still remains an important ambition.

“This site provides outstanding connectivity for such a hospital and would be far more accessible than Preston Hospital which is difficult to access, equally difficult to park at and, unfortunately, very much at the end of its lifespan in terms of the quality of the buildings.

“In the meantime, I am keen to ensure that services at Chorley Hospital remain available for local residents and we increase the opening hours at Chorley A&E to 24 hours in order to cater for the demand. I continue to lobby the Secretary of State, NHS England and local health officials to provide a 24-hour A&E unit.

“Equally I want to maintain all existing services and see more provided at Chorley. As our local population grows, health services also need to be located where they are most needed,” Sir Lindsay said.

Professor Silas Nicholls, chief executive of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the land acquisition “allows us to continue developing plans for a modern facility that could significantly improve care for our communities”.

“This progress has only been possible thanks to the close collaboration with our strategic partner, Lancashire County Council, whose support has been instrumental throughout.”

Simon Lawrence, the county council’s director of growth and property, added that the deal was “an important practical step that enables the next stage of work on proposals for a potential new hospital site, adjacent to the commercial employment site Lancashire Central”.

“The county council will remain closely engaged with NHS partners as plans are developed and communities are consulted, recognising that any future decision would be subject to the appropriate national and local approvals,” he said.

Why do we need a new Royal Preston?

The current hospital – much of which was built between 1975 and 1984, with some new facilities being added in later years – was estimated back in 2021 to have a maintenance backlog totalling £157m.

An NHS report that year, making the case for a new hospital, described some of the buildings that dated back over 40 years as being in a state of “serious dilapidation”.   It said the condition of the facilities had reached a critical stage and, without investment, buildings and services could fail.

The document added that 80 percent of the site required redevelopment or demolition over the medium-to-long term – and noted that operating theatre capacity was 40 percent below the standard that would be expected for a newly-built hospital.