South Lakes MP urges Health Secretary to provide local hospitals with ventilators in advance of peak outbreak of coronavirus

Local MP Tim Farron has written to the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, to make the case for the Government to provide hospitals in Morecambe Bay with ventilators before they see a steep rise in the number of coronavirus cases.

In his letter to the Secretary of State, Tim said local health care professionals had reported to him that they had serious concerns about the Government's plans to deliver the ventilators on a 'just in time delivery' basis.

Tim also raised this issue during a conference call with Cabinet Office minister Penny Mordaunt this morning.

Tim said: "I'm in awe the amazing work those in our local NHS are doing in caring for those in need, but also in working round the clock to prepare for a much larger influx of patients.

"So many of the preparations we need to make with staff and space are absolutely being made ahead of time. We've seen that with the new field hospital being set up at the leisure centre in Kendal.

"However, the problem is the Government aren't currently planning to provide the extra ventilators our hospitals will need in the coming weeks ahead of time.

"We need to see those ventilators arriving well in advance of the projected increase in demand so that all of our local hospitals can be best placed to fight this virus."