Stand Up For Southport Blog by Andrew Brown
When it comes to deciding whether adults’ and children’s A&E services should be sited together at Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital, there is only one option that makes sense – and that’s Southport.
That’s based on substantial research carried out by NHS health experts themselves; cost estimates; local demographics; transport infrastructure; and also looking to the future and what the towns are striving to become.
The NHS has been seeking people’s views through the Shaping Care Together programme, with the consultation due to end on Friday, 3rd October 2025.
People can respond here: www.yoursayshapingcaretogether.co.uk
To support people, the NHS has drawn up proposals for changes to local urgent and emergency care services.
The estimated costs of making the necessary changes alone makes the case for Southport irrefutable.
Making the change to one site at Southport Hospital would cost £33.1 million according to NHS research, against £91.3 million for re-siting everything at Ormskirk Hospital.
That’s a staggering difference, making the Ormsirk option simply unviable.
The Southport transformation would take five years to complete, against seven years for Ormskirk.
The size of floorspace at each hospital affected would be 1,800m2 at Southport Hospital against 8,800m2 at Ormskirk.
In basic demographic terms, Southport has a population of 102,000 local residents, against just 28,000 living in Ormskirk.
What is not mentioned in the NHS report is that Southport is also a bustling seaside town.
In 2019, the last year before the Covid pandemic, Southport welcomed a substantial 9.1 million visitors.
There are huge ambitions in place to increase that number substantially.
The new Marine Lake Events Centre on its own is forecast to attract an additional 515,000 visitors per year.
Victoria Park has recently been granted permission to increase its capacity from 10,000 to 15,000 people, meaning it’s able to attract even bigger and better events.
Cove Resort will bring even more people into town, while there are other new attractions on the way including Footy Nation at Ocean Plaza Leisure, padel courts at Victoria Park and more.
The poor quality of transport linking Southport and Ormskirk is a big factor too.
How many stressed parents with sick or injured children or pregnant mums have had to brave that single lane road between the two towns amidst busy traffic?
Despite years of campaigning, there is still no plan to restore the direct rail line between the towns.
NHS data shows that patients and staff across both hospitals combined live relatively closer to Southport than Ormskirk.
Most people (9 out of 10) travelling to adult A&E in Southport last year would have taken longer driving to Ormskirk.
The predicted increase in ambulance travel time would be three times greater with the Ormskirk option than the Southport option.
People’s lives are at stake – the medical argument points the finger heavily towards Southport.
If the Southport option is implemented, it will include
• Today’s adult A&E facility with 365m2 newly refurbished additional treatment space
• A newly refurbished children’s A&E and inpatient facility of similar size to the current unit at Ormskirk Hospital
• A new ambulance entrance dedicated to children’s A&E
• Up to 354 new parking spaces
These are improved NHS services that EVERYONE in Southport and Ormskirk; and across North Sefton and West Lancashire; can enjoy.
Better facilities for patients; better working practices for staff; better staff retention; longer term cost savings.
A&E services that are modern, fit for purpose and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Everyone wins.
A panel of experts from NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria and Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust have reviewed all the evidence, and they all agree – they have recommended a preferred option for locating services in Southport.
The answer is locating all emergency services at Southport Hospital – it is the only option that makes sense for a huge variety of reasons.
- People are urged to make your views known while you can: www.yoursayshapingcaretogether.co.uk
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