£15.6m for Burnley General Hospital

General surgery, opthalmology and outpatients will all benefit from the cash allocation from Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander.

The funding will be used to greatly improve the hospital’s surgical centre, as well as create a new outpatients unit and ophthalmology centre.

Once the business case is finalised and approved, construction work is expected to take around one year to complete.

Danny Alexander said: “I’ve been working closely with local partners who have highlighted to me how important it is for Burnley Hospital to have the money it needs for a complete refurbishment. So I’m delighted to be able to announce that I have agreed in principle to provide £15.6m for the Hospital.

“This is great news for the people of Burnley and I’m now calling on the Department of Health to work with East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust to ensure that this goes through as quickly as possible so work can start on this crucial local resource.”

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle said the news was “fantastic” for Burnley and followed Mr Alexander’s visit to Burnley last year.