New operating theatres at Morecambe Bay hospital will take pressure off Lancaster and Barrow

This means the hub will reduce pressure on the other two acute hospitals in Lancaster and Barrow.

WGH became a designated 'Elective Green Surgical Hub' as defined by NHS England and Improvement (NHSI/E) in 2020.

The hubs were established to carry out more elective surgical operations where patients are deemed suitable and fit for surgery and help to reduce the backlog of patients awaiting surgery due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the hub can treat more patients who are deemed suitable to have their procedure in that environment, it also frees up more space at the Trust’s other two operating sites.

This means patients who are not able to have their procedure at WGH can be seen quicker at the hospital most appropriate for their needs.

The additional funding - awarded as part of the national Elective Recovery Plan - will be used to continue improving and expanding the theatre department at WGH. Having already completed the renovation of two theatres in the main theatre department with the third due for completion in coming weeks, the monies will support:

Scott Mclean, chief operating officer, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), said: “This funding is great news for our teams and the communities we serve. This additional funding takes the total amount we are investing into surgical facilities at WGH to £16.7m from 2019 to the end of this project.

“The development at WGH is a key part of our plans to cement the hospital as our hub for elective surgery and will allow us to offer more procedures to patients in state-of-the-art facilities. It will also reduce pressure on our other two acute hospitals in Barrow and Lancaster and give us the ability to continue surgical activity in case of another wave of Covid-19.”

The work is expected to be complete by mid-2023 and will see the hospital’s total number of permanent theatres increase from four to five, supported by a sixth modular theatre. This will allow the temporary Vanguard theatres currently on site to be removed.