Date announced for decision on future of A&E services in West Lancashire, Formby and Southport
The date has been given for a final decision on where A&E services should be located for residents living in West Lancashire, Southport and Formby.
What’s it all about?
The Shaping Care Together programme proposes merging A&E services for Southport, Formby, and West Lancashire onto one site - either Southport or Ormskirk.
Currently, A&E is split, with adult services at Southport and children's services at Ormskirk. The proposal aims to consolidate all A&E services at one site.
If the children’s A&E was transferred to Southport Hospital - a distance of around eight miles - the service would operate around the clock - whereas the present unit for young people at Ormskirk closes overnight, between midnight and 8am every day. Outside of those hours, ambulance patients are taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
Costs and time
Current implementation costs are estimated at £33.1 million for the Southport option and £91.3 million for the Ormskirk option. The NHS Integrated Care Board said that the Southport option could also be delivered two years faster and would cause less disruption to current services during redevelopment
West Lancashire Borough Council has formally supported moving all services to Ormskirk Hospital - as a move to Southport would would leave Ormskirk, and the whole West Lancashire borough, without A&E services and place some residents over 20 kilometres away from emergency care.
The three NHS partners have been working on the programmme - Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board. A public consultation concluded on October 3, 2025 and now a decision date has been given.
A meeting will take place from 10am on Friday, March 13 at Ormskirk Civic Hall, and the final decision will be made in public. You can register your interest to attend the meeting by submitting your details here.
Support your Lancashire Post and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest football stories and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.