Health minister Lord Markham has visited three New Hospital Programme schemes in the North West.

He visited Leighton Hospital, which will implement clinical, digital, and environmental innovations to enable the trust to tackle inequalities and meet the needs of a growing and ageing population.

At Royal Preston Hospital, patients and staff will will benefit from modern hospital designs, making use of the latest technology, digital innovation and sustainability to improve overall patient experience and provide a better working environment for staff.

The new North Manchester Hospital site is to include a new acute hospital, mental health hospital and multi-storey car park as well as affordable homes and accommodation for hospital staff. Work has already been completed on a 980 space multi-storey car park and cycle hub in the project’s first major construction milestone.

Lord Markham said: "We are investing in new NHS facilities across the country so patients can access high quality care in state-of-the-art hospitals, both now and in the years to come.

"The North West will benefit from six new hospitals and this week I’ve been visiting some of the sites and speaking to patient, staff and local leaders across the region about the plans and progress. These will help to improve care and allow patients to be seen more quickly, which will help to cut waiting lists – one of the government’s top five priorities.

"In the long term, our new standardised design means we can rapidly replicate new hospitals across the country, helping to speed up construction and deliver on our commitment of 40 new hospitals by 2030."

Image: HelenBuckle, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons