Sites unveiled for two hospital rebuilds in northern England only last month
NHS trusts have pressed pause on two hospital sites in northern England worth a combined £3.5bn following the government’s decision to delay the schemes past 2035.
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust have suspended public engagement on the £2bn Royal Preston Hospital and the £1.5bn Royal Lancaster Infirmary, which will now not start until 2037 and 2035 at the earliest, respectively.
Proposed sites for the full replacement schemes had only been announced in December 2024, with a series of public engagement events for the schemes launching earlier this month.
The two trusts said: “In light of the significant delay to the timeframes in which the new hospitals are expected to be built, the local NHS has made the difficult decision to suspend public engagement on the proposed sites.
“The planned programme of public events and independent market research will be cancelled until further notice.”
Aaron Cummins, chief executive of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust said the delay was “disappointing, but we accept the need for a fully costed and deliverable timeline of investment through the New Hospital Programme”.
The move comes after health secretary Wes Streeting’s announcement on Monday of a revised timetable for the government’s £20bn New Hospital Programme which will see 13 schemes delayed until at least 2035, five years after the original 2030 deadline set out by Boris Johnson in 2020.
Work on the £1.7bn redevelopment of St Mary’s Hospital in central London is now scheduled to start between 2035 and 2038, while eight of the schemes in the third and final wave of the programme may now not start until 2039 under the cost-saving measures.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust chief executive Tim Orchard said the delay to St Mary’s Hospital was “devastating news for our communities, our staff and patients, and for the whole of the capital’s healthcare system.”
“We understand that the Government’s New Hospital Programme must be affordable but the simple truth is that St Mary’s Hospital, in particular, will not last until the 2040s.”
Orchard added: “We need to digest the detail of today’s announcement, but we have to find a way to progress our schemes more quickly.
“This includes exploring alternative funding approaches, leveraging the value of our land that will be surplus to requirements and the significant contribution of our life science partnerships to local and national economic growth.”
The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said it was “extremely disappointed” with the delay to the redevelopment of Royal Berkshire Hospital, now expected to start between 2035 and 2039, adding that staff and patients “deserve better”.
The Trust added: “The condition of our current hospital presents challenges for staff and patients which we manage every day, to deliver safe, high quality healthcare services to our local communities despite these challenges.
“We will be seeking urgent meetings with NHS England and the New Hospital Programme team to explore the implications of the announcement.”
Meanwhile, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Sam Higginson said the “need for urgent investment has not been fully recognised” in Streeting’s review of the programme, which has delayed the redevelopment of North Devon District Hospital to at least 2035.
“We have spoken publicly about the risks in our ability to continue to deliver health and care services which meet both our current and future needs,” Higginson said.
“As the most remote hospital in mainland England, investing in our hospital services is vital to ensure we can continue caring for our local population for years to come.”
NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said on Monday that the timetable review had come as a “major blow” to trusts, staff, patients and communities.
The body’s chief executive Saffron Cordery said: “Despite a hugely welcome cash injection in the recent budget and further boost today, the fact remains that too many NHS buildings and facilities are in a terrible condition right now.”
The government’s maintenance backlog on public sector buildings is now at least £49bn, according to the latest estimate by the National Audit Office.
In a report published yesterday, the government’s spending watching said Ministry of Defence properties, schools and NHS properties have a backlog totalling more than £10bn each and make up 88% of the total backlog.
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