The Department of Health & Social Care’s plan for implementation for the New Hospital Programme will see almost half of the 40 new hospitals promised by 2030 delayed, with work on 18 hospitals now not set to begin until 2032 and beyond.
Wes Streeting noted that funding for the programme was “due to run out by March of this year”, whilst there was “no provision for future years whatsoever”. The programme was “built on the shaky foundation of false hope”, the health secretary continued, “and without the confirmed funding these building projects could not be delivered, let alone delivering them all in the next 5 years”.
Schemes with a revised start date of 2032 to 2034 include Leeds General Infirmary; Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Sutton; Whipps Cross University Hospital in North East London; Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow; Watford General Hospital; Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital, and Glenfield Hospital; Kettering General Hospital; Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton; and Torbay Hospital.
Commenting on the announcement, Professor Phil Wood, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are extremely disappointed to hear that we will be unable to start construction on the new hospital at Leeds General Infirmary. We have been waiting since 2019 to build this new hospital for our patients, staff and communities in Leeds, Yorkshire and beyond. We will continue to work with the New Hospital Programme, to understand the detail of this announcement and what this means for our plans. We also need to understand the impact this delay will have on our hospital services and our ageing estate, which has one of the highest backlog maintenance requirements in the NHS.”
Phil added: “For some time now, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has had advanced and well-developed plans for a new hospital at Leeds General Infirmary. We have a cleared construction site, made considerable progress with our preparatory works and have been working towards securing more detailed planning consent, following the outline planning consent which was secured in 2020.”
Those schemes delayed even further to 2035 include Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital in London; North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple; Royal Lancaster Infirmary; St Mary’s Hospital in North West London; Royal Preston Hospital; Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital; Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading; Hampshire Hospitals; and Eastbourne District General, Conquest Hospital and Bexhill Community Hospital.
A multi-criteria decision support analysis (MCDA) tool was used to prioritise schemes, according to the DHSC, with data inputs including site constraints; number of incidents caused as a result of infrastructure, staffing, facilities, or environment; and number of beds per £1,000.
Funding for the programme was agreed through phase one of the Spending Review, with plans to phase the schemes “on the basis of a funding envelope of £3 billion per year once the programme has grown to steady state from the pre-construction phase”. Future Spending Reviews will “confirm the funding for individual waves”, the plan continues.
To read the DHSC’s implementation plan in full, please click here.
More recent updates from the DHSC
In October, the DHSC launched an open call for comment asking for feedback on the health service and sharing its intention to “have the biggest ever conversation about the future of the NHS”. The call was open to all, including members of the public, healthcare professionals and organisations, asking participants to share their experiences and opinions. Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting highlighted that the feedback would help shape the government’s work on its 10-year plan to “turn the NHS around”.
December saw the announcement of £126 million in funding from the DHSC to help support hospices in making improvements to IT systems and facilities, in what it termed the “biggest investment into hospices in a generation”. According to the announcement, the investment will go toward the refurbishment of facilities, as well as improvements in buildings, equipment, accommodation, IT systems, and to “make it easier for GPs and hospitals to share vital data on patients”.
And earlier this month, the Department proposed a new requirement for general practice to ensure patients can contact their surgery through electronic communications during core hours, as part of the “transition from analogue to digital in primary care”. The proposal comes as part of the new GP contract for 2025 – 2026 which has been backed by an “extra £889 million on top of the existing budget for general practice,” DHSC notes. A change has also been outlined to reduce the number of targets from 76 to 44 as part of the Quality and Outcomes Framework reporting. The announcement also highlights the intention to provide “financial incentives to reward” practices in certain areas such as identifying and managing patients with high blood pressure.
