Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed a new £1.8 billion funding boost, which includes £850 million to upgrade 20 hospitals.
The £850m of new funding is to be used to upgrade outdated equipment and facilities, and includes projects such as a new Integrated Care System for South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw and a single Laboratory Information Management System for Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
It also includes a new hospital build for Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust at a cost of £72.3 million.
Boris Johnson said “The NHS is always there for us – free at the point of use for everyone in the country. With our doctors and nurses working tirelessly day in day out, this treasured institution truly showcases the very best of Britain.”
“That’s why I made it my immediate task to make sure frontline services have the funding they need, to make a real difference to the lives of NHS staff, and above all, of patients. Today I’m delivering on this promise with a £1.8 billion cash injection – meaning more beds, new wards, and extra life-saving equipment to ensure patients continue to receive world-class care.”
“It’s time to face up to this challenge and make sure the NHS receives the funds it needs, to continue being the best healthcare service in the world.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said “I love the NHS – and so do the millions of taxpayers and their families cared for by our NHS every month. We owe it to them to make sure they can get the best treatment in the best hospitals.”
“On top of the extra £33.9 billion a year we are giving the NHS, today we are making a downpayment for the future of NHS buildings and facilities, with a £1.8 billion fund to revitalise our hospitals and immediate funding for bigger wards, better mental health units, and state of the art children’s hospitals in areas that need them the most. This is just the start of our Health Infrastructure Plan.”
Responding to reports of a £1.8 billion cash boost for the NHS, Nigel Edwards, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust, said “This is a welcome down payment on the staggering £6 billion needed to clear the backlog of NHS maintainence but it will only be a fraction of what it would cost to really upgrade 20 hospitals. Nobody should expect shiny new hospitals in their towns any time soon.”
“It’s encouraging to see money assigned to capital funding, which will help stop hospitals deteriorating even further, but without comprehensively tackling the current workforce crisis, any new beds will be languishing on ghost wards.”
David Hancock, healthcare executive adviser, InterSystems, said “New investment in buildings and infrastructure signals an opportunity for world class facilities, an improved NHS working environment, and crucially, the means to lay the foundations for digital technology that is now urgently needed to help sustain the health service and improve patient outcomes. This is a perfect time to put the communications infrastructure in the new buildings that will help join up care. Connectivity will ease data liquidity, where information flows where it needs to be for timely insight and action. Facilities for WiFi, Bluetooth, 5G and necessary fibre for connection to cloud infrastructure will help ensure the health estates can share information and connect people and their work without barriers. With data liquidity from devices, people and systems we can improve the patient experience with personal and proactive health and care services.”
The 20 hospitals set to be upgraded, at a cost of £850 million, include:
East of England
- Luton & Dunstable University Hospital NHS FT – £99.5 million for a new block in Luton to provide critical and intensive care, as well as a delivery suite and operating theatres.
- Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS FT – £69.7 million to provide Diagnostic and Assessment Centres in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn to aid rapid diagnosis and assessment of cancer and non-cancerous disease.
- Norfolk and Suffolk NHS FT – £40 million to build 4 new hospital wards in Norwich, providing 80 beds.
- NHS South Norfolk CCG – £25.2 million to develop and improve primary care services in South Norfolk.
Midlands
- University Hospitals Birmingham – £97.1 million to provide a new purpose built hospital facility in Birmingham, replacing outdated outpatient, treatment and diagnostic accommodation.
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust – £21.3 million to improve patient flow in Boston by developing urgent and emergency care zones in A&E.
- Wye Valley NHS Trust – £23.6 million to provide new hospital wards in Hereford, providing 72 beds. University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust – £17.6 million to create 3 new modern wards to improve capacity and patient flow in Stoke, delivering approximately 84 beds for this winter.
London
- Barking, Havering and Redbridge CCGs and North East London NHS Foundation Trust – £17 million to develop a new health and wellbeing hub in North East London.
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust – £12.7 million to extend and refurbish critical care units at the Croydon University Hospital, Croydon.
North East and Yorkshire
- South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System – £57.5 million for primary Care investment across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw.
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £41.7 million to improve Paediatric Cardiac Services in the North East.
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – £12 million to provide a single Laboratory Information Management System across West Yorkshire and Harrogate, covering all pathology disciplines.
North West
- Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – £72.3 million to build a new adult mental health inpatient unit in Manchester.
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust – £33 million to provide a new 40 bed low secure unit for people with learning disabilities.
- Stockport NHS FT – £30.6 million to provide a new Emergency Care Campus Development at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, incorporating an Urgent Treatment Centre, GP assessment unit and Planned Investigation Unit.
- NHS Wirral CCG – £18 million to improve patient flow in Wirral by improving access via the Urgent Treatment Centre.
- Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust – £16.3 million to provide Emergency and urgent care facilities at Tameside General Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne.
South East
- Isle of Wight NHS Trust – £48 million to redesign acute services for Isle of Wight residents.
South West
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – £99.9 million to build a new Women’s and Children’s Hospital in the centre of the Royal Cornwall Hospital site in Truro.
