The green light is set to be given to major development works at the West Cumberland Hospital.

Copeland Council’s planning panel is set to meet today, and will be considering whether to grant outline approval to a major proposed extension at the Whitehaven infirmary.

If granted, further detailed plans will need to be approved before work can be carried out.

However, should the project go ahead, a new two-storey extension will be built at the West Cumberland Hospital, which will house 60 inpatient beds, as well as a 14-bed paediatric ward, and four suites designed for end-of-life care.

The new building will also house administration and support spaces and a shared physiotherapies suite.

The first phase of the West Cumberland Hospital redevelopment project was completed in 2015, at a cost of £90m.

One of the aims of this second phase of works is to, according to the submitted plans, “provide high quality older person care, which is fully integrated with social care and integrated care communities, including frailty assessment and prevention”.

Copeland council’s planning department has recommended to today’s planning panel that the outline application be approved.

The West Cumberland Hospital was the first new hospital in England to be built following the birth of the NHS in 1948.

It has 191 inpatient beds, a 24-hour accident and emergency department, a consultant-led maternity unit and special baby unit, and is home to a range of specialist clinical services and outpatient clinics.