Eight hospital rebuilds are likely to be delayed beyond 2030, government says
BMJ 2023; 381 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p1210 (Published 26 May 2023) Cite this as: BMJ 2023;381:p1210
A number of major building works included in the government’s “new hospitals programme” will not be completed until the next decade, the health secretary has told MPs.
The pledge to build 40 “new” hospitals by 20301 was a key manifesto commitment made by the former prime minister Boris Johnson in 2019. This included six new facilities and 34 hospital rebuilds.
In a speech to the House of Commons on 25 May England’s health secretary, Steve Barclay, reiterated the government’s commitment to the building programme and said that it would receive over £20bn investment in total. But he said that completion on eight projects was likely to run into the 2030s.
Healthcare leaders welcomed the reaffirmed commitment to the programme but said that the funding allocated was less than what was required and expressed disappointment at the delays.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said, “The £20bn of investment that has been earmarked for this programme falls significantly short of the £35bn it is expected to cost, and also leaders will be hugely frustrated that eight of the promised new hospitals have now been kicked into the long grass, as these services are likely to continue to see their productivity and efficiency hindered, all while waiting lists continue to soar.”
Barclay told MPs that the government’s initial priority was to replace seven hospitals that had been made with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a cheaper, lightweight form of concrete with a limited lifespan that was commonly used from the 1950s to the 1980s in the roofs and walls of public buildings. He said that, since the hospitals building programme had launched, the government had identified seven hospitals made with RAAC that were “not safe to operate beyond 2030.” Two of these hospitals, the West Suffolk Hospital and the James Paget Hospital in Norfolk, were already part of the new hospitals programme. Five others are set to join the expanded programme: Airedale General in Keighley; the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn; Hinchingbrooke Hospital, near Huntingdon; Leighton Hospital in Cheshire; and Frimley Park in Surrey.
Crumbling blocks
Barclay said that work on seven hospitals in the fourth cohort of the building programme would not be completed by 2030. The hospital sites facing delays are Charing Cross, St Mary’s, Nottingham, Lancashire, Eastbourne, Hampshire, and Barnstaple.
“This is a reflection of the disruption that two years of the covid pandemic has caused, as well as the pressure from construction inflation,” said Barclay. He added that an eighth hospital, the Royal Berkshire, had problems with its existing site that made a 2030 completion date for the new building “very stretching.”
Commenting on the announcement, Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said, “We welcome government action to replace dangerous, crumbling old concrete blocks in ceilings and walls by including five trusts most at risk in the NHP [new hospitals programme]. But while today’s confirmation of the funding is welcome, some trusts already on the programme will be deeply disappointed their construction plans will not be delivered before 2030.”
He added, “More than £20bn is a major investment from government in hospital infrastructure. However, we need to see more detail to work out whether the extra funding is enough to meet trusts’ commitments to their communities and patients’ expectations. Costs of delayed NHP schemes have spiralled due to inflation.
“Without proper funding for safe, efficient, and reliable buildings and equipment that patients and staff need, quality of care is at risk.”