Safety is a key priority for the Trust and as part of a programme of estates safety measures, looking at our current buildings, fire and evacuation safety procedures alongside the patient acuity of our wards, we identified that the two-story unit at Longridge Hospital, housing older patients with potential mobility problems, was safer as a ground floor only ward.
In the interests of patient safety, the 15-bed ward has been temporarily reduced to five ground floor beds to aid any potential evacuation procedures, making them safer and easier to enact in the event of an emergency.
The hospital remains open and GPs can continue to refer to any empty beds that become available through the normal practices. There are no changes to any of the other community services delivered from Longridge Hospital.
All patients, their families and carers have been made aware of the situation and the changes that we have made for those remaining on site. All colleagues remain at the hospital with no plans to make any changes. The hospital still remains safe for patients to receive care, colleagues to work from and for relatives to visit.
We are now working through the implications of these changes including costs of the required fire safety works, timescales and staffing requirements needed to ensure timely and safe evacuation of the upper level in the event of an emergency requiring this in the future. Additionally, the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) is setting up a working group to fully understand all of the considerations. All of this will take time and we will keep you updated of any developments over the next few months.
