UHMBT made the decision on Thursday 19 March 2026 to escalate to Operational Pressures Escalation Level (OPEL) 4 at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI). This was driven by significant and increasing demand for our services.
While our hospitals remain pressured and there are still challenges, we have de-escalated back to OPEL Level 3 from 4pm today, Friday 20 March 2026.
The decision to de-escalate was made because the pressure at UHMBT has reduced to a level which while still very significant, does not meet the national OPEL 4 criteria.
We continue to work closely with our system partners to support the Trust and we will continue the focussed actions we have put in place this week over the forthcoming weeks to improve flow across the site.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the public for their understanding and to our staff for their dedication and commitment to putting patients first during difficult circumstances.