Work has restarted on the construction of a new £2.5 million state-of-the-art operating theatre at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI).
The building work had been temporarily halted in March 2020 by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Work to put in foundations for the building restarted on Monday 1 June and the Trust’s Capital Services Team has said there should be no major disturbance to patients and staff.
The work on the new operating theatre is being carried out as part of a £34 million investment announced in October 2019 to improve the Trust's buildings and infrastructure.
Any members of the public, staff and other stakeholders wishing to see the plans can view them on our attached illustrations.
The theatre is being built to provide capacity while existing operating theatres at the RLI are being upgraded and it will result in an enhanced experience for patients and a greatly improved working environment for staff.
There will be some road closures on site in August as work continues. More information will be shared as the project moves on.
Kate Maynard, Interim Chief Operating Officer, UHMBT, said: “We are pleased that we have been able to resume work on our new operating theatre at the RLI and that we will be able to create a greatly enhanced experience for patients who come to us for surgical care.
“The new theatre will enable us to retain our operating capacity while important upgrading work on other theatres is taking place.”