New hospital building programme announced

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has launched the largest hospital building programme in a generation as part of a new Health Infrastructure Plan.

The government said the plan’s new, strategic approach will ensure the health service will have world-class facilities for patients and staff for the long term.

At the centre of this plan is a new hospital building programme, which the government has launched with a £2.8bn investment that gives 6 new large hospitals the funding to go ahead now, aiming to deliver by 2025.

A further 21 schemes have been given the go-ahead with the seed funding they need to develop their business cases, with the aim of delivering between 2025 and 2030, subject to business case approvals.

The 6 trusts getting £2.7bn in funding to develop new hospitals are:

• Barts Health Trust, London
• Epsom and St Helier Trust
• West Hertfordshire Trust
• Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust, Harlow
• University Hospitals of Leicester Trust
• Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust

The 21 schemes receiving £100 million of seed funding include:

• Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge
• Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham
• North Manchester General Hospital

The investment is on top of the extra £33.9bn a year by 2023 to 2024 that the government is providing to the NHS, which follows the recent commitment of £1.8bn in capital funding for 20 hospital upgrades and other critical infrastructure works for the NHS.