A number of sites for a new hospital in west Cumbria have been proposed as part of plans to replace West Cumberland Hospital.
The sites, all of which are in Whitehaven, were suggested by Copeland Borough Council following a report into plans for a new acute hospital in the region.
The five new sites: Hensingham Common; Overend West; Overend East; Hensingham and Westlakes Summergrove will all go to consultation before it is decided if they will replace West Cumberland’s current site.
Councillors in Copeland, where the hospital run by the North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is sited, are hoping the final site will still be in the area in a bid to stop rural residents having to travel long distances.
The deputy leader of Copeland Council, Allan Holliday, said: “We want to see the new hospital as near to Whitehaven as possible.
“We can work with the health trust to build a hospital to serve the community and these sites can accommodate all that is being proposed and have got the capacity to extend the hospital should more funding become available.”
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