As you may be aware, we made the decision on Sunday 12 April 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 (Thursday 16 April 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.
Our site safety and flow meetings that take place four times a day will continue to support teams across the Trust in dealing with any issues as they arise. We continue to work closely with our system partners to support the Trust, and we will continue the focused 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 you for your dedication and commitment to putting patients first again during difficult circumstances.
Dee Houghton
Interim Chief Operating Officer
Helen Skinner
Chief Medical Officer
Lynne Wyre
Interim Chief Nursing Officer