ROYAL Blackburn Hospital’s A&E Department is set to be expanded after being awarded between £5million - £10million in Government funding, it has been announced.

East Lancashire Hospitals Trust will receive £5m - £10m to pay for an expansion of Royal Blackburn Hospital’s A&E and to provide two extra clinical rooms.

Across Lancashire and South Cumbria, there will be a similar amount of new capital funding has been earmarked to be used to modernise mental health inpatient services.

It’s part of the Government’s £325million in new capital investment for local NHS projects across the country announced.

Andrew Stephenson, MP for Pendle, commented; “I am delighted to welcome new investment which will help significantly improve the facilities at Blackburn A&E and help reduce waiting times.

“Blackburn A&E has been under increased pressure since Burnley General Hospital’s A&E was closed under the last Labour Government in 2007.

“Under the Conservatives we have seen a new £9 million Urgent Care Centre at Burnley General Hospital and a new £6 million A&E just over the border at Airedale Hospital, which both opened in 2014.

“However waiting times at Blackburn A&E have remained too high, so I welcome this new funding to help expand the A&E.”

Mr Stephenson continued; “We said in the Budget that we would invest in local areas that have developed the best plans – and today we are making good on that promise with an initial £325 million of capital funding. This will improve patient care and outcomes in communities up and down the country.

“This investment wouldn’t be possible under Labour – because at the election they said they wanted to pause these plans, despite the fact they are supported by local clinicians in the interest of patients.”

Mr Stephenson added that this Government was backing the NHS’s own plan for the future, the Five-Year Forward View, and funding it with an additional £8 billion a year in real terms by the end of the Parliament.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "This funding will support strong local plans to help the NHS modernise and transform care for patients.

A measure of success of these transformation partnerships is that people can see and feel improvements being made in their local area – there are already excellent examples of this across the country and this money will allow them to go further and faster."

NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens said: "Today we’re firing the starting gun on the first wave of major service upgrades and care redesign which will benefit people living in counties, towns and cities across England.

"For patients it’ll mean easier GP appointments, modern A&Es, and better cancer and mental health care.

"For staff, we’re putting our money where our mouth is in backing these practical plans developed by doctors, nurses and local NHS leaders.

"This is the first down payment of much needed investment in modern equipment and NHS facilities, with more promised in the autumn and beyond.

"Today is proof positive that when you back the NHS with investment, both patients and taxpayers see the practical benefits."