Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: FOI Ref. 9231

The South Ribble MP Katherine Fletcher has publicly stated a new Royal Preston Hospital would be built in South Ribble and not the City of Preston.

She said several sites in South Ribble are being considered. As a matter of public interest, and because this now in the public domain, please can you state where these locations are?

If you are unwilling to give precise locations, please could state the towns or village localities being considered?

Trust response: The Trust considers this information to be exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and it is therefore withheld due to being information of a commercially confidential nature at this stage in the process. 

Work is underway to assess the viability of potential locations for new hospital builds for both Royal Preston Hospital (Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) and Royal Lancaster Infirmary (University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust). Following an initial land search, the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria is assessing the deliverability of each site, including environmental and planning considerations, capacity for utilities and high-level design, as well as undertaking travel and transport analysis to understand the accessibility of each site. There is still a lot of work to be completed in this area and additional sites may emerge over the coming period. Further information will be shared in due course.

Under section 43(2) of the FOIA, information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person. Section 43 is a qualified exemption so we have considered the public interest and have determined that the balance lies with withholding this information:

Withhold information:

• Releasing the requested information could prejudice the Trust’s future negotiation capabilities and reduce confidence third parties have with the Trust in order to facilitate the decision making process. Both the Trust and any third party contractor would be reluctant to have free and frank discussions if all that is discussed is subject to scrutiny with no safe space for ‘confidential communications’, the requested information may prejudice pending or future decisions, which would be detrimental to the Trust and or third parties.

Release information:

• The general proposition of maximising openness that the FOIA and the Trust aspire to.
• The benefits of ensuring transparent and accountable government by disclosing how the Trust receives and spends public money.