Health secretary contrasts “honest, realistic, deliverable timetable” to Boris Johnson’s original pledge
The government has published a new timetable to deliver the New Hospital Programme, with some projects now pushed back beyond 2037 (see full list below).
Health secretary Wes Streeting yesterday described the new timetable as “honest, realistic [and] deliverable” in contrast to Boris Johnson’s original pledge to build 40 hospitals by 2030 which Streeting said was built on the “shaky foundation of false hope”.
Under the plan, which will see 46 hospitals built or refurbished, projects will be delivered and funded in five-year “waves”, with £15bn allocated for each wave.
A total of 21 schemes have already been approved. Of these, 14 are either open to patients, in construction or have had their main build full business case approved, while a further seven will replace RAAC hospitals, which are deemed more urgent due to safety risks.
Of the 25 remaining, seven schemes are due to start construction in the upcoming wave of construction (2025 to 2030).
A total of nine ”wave two” schemes will start between 2030 and 2035 and a further nine ”wave three” schemes between 2035 and 2039, with five of these not expected to start until 2037.
Streeting said: “The New Hospital Programme we inherited was unfunded and undeliverable. Not a single new hospital was built in the past five years, and there was no credible funding plan to build forty in the next five years.”
He added: ”Working closely with colleagues in HM Treasury,we have secured five-year waves of investment, ensuring that there is always a balanced portfolio of hospital schemes at different development stages being delivered now and into the future.
>>See also: New hospitals programme and HS2 are ‘unachievable’, says IPA
“This is the most efficient and cost-effective way of giving our NHS the buildings it needs, giving the construction sector the certainty it needs to deliver.”
The hospitals are being delivered using a standardised design, known as Hospital 2.0. The government said: “A hospital built through Hospital 2.0 principles will use sustainable and modern methods of construction designed for manufacturing assembly to accelerate the building process.”
Revised NHP Timetable
| Table 1: wave 0 schemes (already under construction) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Scheme | Cost estimate | |
| Alumhurst Road Children’s Mental Health Unit, Dorset | £500m or less | |
| Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Dorset | £500m or less | |
| St Ann’s Hospital, Dorset | £500m or less | |
| Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester | £500m or less | |
| CEDAR Programme | Cost estimate not given | |
| Oriel Eye Hospital | Cost estimate not given | |
| National Rehabilitation Centre | Cost estimate not given | |
| Table 2: wave 1 schemes (to start construction between 2025 and 2030) | ||
| Scheme | Expected construction start date (post-NHP review) | Cost estimate |
| Poole Hospital, Dorset | 2025 to 2026 | £500m or less |
| Derriford Emergency Care Hospital, Plymouth | 2025 to 2026 | £500m or less |
| Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital | 2025 to 2026 | £500m or less |
| Shotley Bridge Community Hospital, Durham | 2026 to 2027 | £500m or less |
| Milton Keynes Hospital | 2027 to 2028 | £500m or less |
| Women and Children’s Hospital, Cornwall | 2027 to 2028 | £500m or less |
| Hillingdon Hospital, north-west London | 2027 to 2028 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| North Manchester General Hospital | 2027 to 2028 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds (RAAC) | 2027 to 2028 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Hinchingbrooke Hospital (RAAC) | 2027 to 2028 | £501m to £1bn |
| James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth (RAAC) | 2027 to 2028 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn (RAAC) | 2027 to 2028 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Leighton Hospital (RAAC) | 2027 to 2028 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Airedale General Hospital (RAAC) | 2027 to 2028 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Frimley Park Hospital (RAAC) | 2028 to 2029 | £1.5bn to £2bn |
| Brighton 3Ts Hospital | 2026 to 2027 | Cost estimate not given |
| Table 3: wave 2 schemes (to start construction between 2030 and 2035) | ||
| Scheme | Expected construction start date (post-NHP review) | Cost estimate |
| Leeds General Infirmary | 2032 to 2034 | £1.5bn to £2bn |
| Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, Sutton | 2032 to 2034 | £1.5bn to £2bn |
| Whipps Cross University Hospital, north-east London | 2032 to 2034 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow | 2032 to 2034 | £1.5bn to £2bn |
| Watford General Hospital | 2032 to 2034 | £1.5bn to £2bn |
| Leicester General Hospital Royal Infirmary | 2032 to 2034 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Kettering General Hospital | 2032 to 2034 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton | 2032 to 2034 | £501m to £1bn |
| Torbay Hospital | 2032 to 2034 | £501m to £1bn |
| Table 4: wave 3 schemes (to start construction between 2035 and 2039) | ||
| Scheme | Expected construction start date (post-NHP review) | Cost estimate |
| Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, London | 2035 to 2038 | £1.5bn to £2bn |
| North Devon District Hospital, Barnstaple | 2035 to 2038 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| Royal Lancaster Infirmary | 2035 to 2038 | £1bn to £1.5bn |
| St Mary’s Hospital, north-west London | 2035 to 2038 | £2bn or more |
| Royal Preston Hospital | 2037 to 2039 | £2bn or more |
| Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital | 2037 to 2039 | £2bn or more |
| Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading | 2037 to 2039 | £2bn or more |
| Hampshire Hospitals | 2037 to 2039 | £2bn or more |
| Eastbourne District General, Conquest Hospital and Bexhill Community Hospital | 2037 to 2039 | £1.5bn to £2bn |
No comments yet