Barrow's MP Simon Fell has welcomed news the trust running Furness General Hospital will receive £10 million in order to fund future upgrades.

The £10 million will be used to develop a business case to access further funds for future development, which includes the possibility of a new hospital.

The funding will be used as part of the second phase of the Government’s flagship Health Infrastructure Plan to improve hospitals.

The plans for Furness General Hospital will fall under the second phase of the Government’s five-year rolling programme of upgrades to health infrastructure.

Mr Fell said he is delighted the Government is delivering on its NHS promises it made at the last election in December.

He said: “Staff at Furness General Hospital have worked tirelessly over recent months, and I would like to thank them for everything they have done to get our local community through the coronavirus pandemic.

“This funding will be used by our local trust to put together a robust plan to upgrade hospital sites across the trust, which includes Furness General in Barrow.

“Our hospital and it’s staff are a local treasure, and I very much welcome this seed funding, which will enable the Trust’s board to put together an exciting plan to develop a Furness General Hospital which is fit for the future.

“I was elected last December on a promise to deliver record NHS investment and level up the health service across the country.

“I am delighted to see the Government getting on with doing exactly that.”

The first phase of the overall funding across the UK will be carried out over the next five years, and includes six new hospital projects. These six projects have ‘shovel ready’ business cases which are ready to progress immediately, subject to business case approval.

Any planned upgrades for Furness will take place in the second phase, after 2025.

During this time, 21 more schemes for 34 new-build hospitals will be submitted for approval, with seed funding provided now to kick-start schemes and allow trusts to proceed to the next stage of developing their hospital plans.

And the new funding in the region will be used to look across the whole of the trust rather than one specific site.

The new funding is part of a plan announced in September 2019 when Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock launched what he called the 'largest hospital building programme in a generation', as part of a new Health Infrastructure Plan.

The plan’s new, strategic approach will ensure the health service will have world-class facilities for patients and staff for the long term. It sets out a long-term programme of investment in health infrastructure, including capital to: build new hospitals, modernise our primary care estate, invest in new diagnostics and technology, and help eradicate critical safety issues.