The government has announced that it has outlined plans for funding and a 'realistic' timetable to put the New Hospital Programme on track to deliver all of its hospital projects. It follows a review of the scheme which found that the previous government’s commitment to deliver ‘40 new hospitals’ by 2030 was behind schedule, unfunded and therefore undeliverable.
In its annual report, the Infrastructure Projects Authority (IPA) also deemed the previous scheme ‘unachievable’, rating the programme as 'red' and highlighting major issues including with the schedule and budget. The government pointed out that an independent IPA review upgraded the New Hospitals Programme from a red to an amber rating, recently. The new plan will be backed with £15 billion of new investment over consecutive five-year waves, averaging £3 billion a year.
Wes Streeting, Health and Social Care Secretary, 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.
“When I walked into the Department of Health and Social Care, I was told that the funding for the New Hospitals Programme runs out in March. We were determined to put the programme on a firm footing, so we can build the new hospitals our NHS needs. We are now setting out an honest, funded, and deliverable programme to rebuild our NHS.”
For schemes that were out of scope of the review, those already with approved Full Business Cases will continue as planned and are already in construction (Wave 0).
The remaining schemes will be allocated to one of three wave groups:
- Schemes in Wave 1 are expected to begin construction between 2025 and 2030. These schemes include hospitals constructed primarily using RAAC, and have been prioritised as patient and staff safety is paramount.
- Schemes in Waves 2 are expected to begin construction between 2030 and 2035.
- Schemes in Wave 3 are expected to begin construction between 2035 and 2039.
Morag Stuart, Chief Programme Officer for the New Hospital Programme, said: “This announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care provides certainty on the next steps for the New Hospital Programme.
“We will continue to work with local NHS organisations to deliver improvements to hospitals across England, including making best use of new technology and improving layouts – and ensuring future hospitals are designed to meet the needs of patients and staff.”
Responding to the outcome of the New Hospital Programme review, Siva Anandaciva, Director of Policy, Partnerships and Events at The King’s Fund, said: “This review confirms that hospital leaders were right to be sceptical that there was enough funding to deliver the 40 new hospitals programme by the 2030 deadline. The construction industry has not been immune from rising inflation and labour shortages over recent years, and it is welcome that the new plans aim to be more realistic, including a long-term outline for how the programme will be funded.
“However, it will be devasting to staff and patients to hear that plans to rebuild many local hospitals will be kicked so far into the long grass. It is clear that the knackered condition of some NHS buildings and equipment in both hospital and out-of-hospital settings is harming patients and staff and hampering attempts to improve NHS productivity.
“Pausing or delaying plans to rebuild hospitals is also very likely to be a false economy – many hospitals are already spending significant amounts of taxpayers funding trying to maintain sub-standard buildings – and they will have to keep doing so in the years to come.
“Additionally, the scale of the crumbling NHS estate is far wider than the 40 rebuilds on the new hospital programme. Much of the mental health estate is some of the oldest within the NHS, and it is reported that an estimated one in five of England’s GP premises pre-date when the NHS was formed in 1948.
“While £1 billion was earmarked in the recent Budget for the most critical maintenance issues in NHS hospitals, there is a £13.8 billion maintenance backlog for buildings and equipment. The result is poorer patient care and staff experience because of multiple IT failures, flooded corridors, dangerous roofs, unreliable diagnostic equipment and substandard layouts that create overcrowding in A&E departments.”
View the review of the scheme here.
