Wes Streeting with Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Health Secretary Wes Streeting was accused of “cynically betraying” the trust of the British people after delaying long-awaited new hospitals.
He said plans to build 32 new hospitals by 2030 would be changed with some of the new buildings delayed until 2039.
Mr Streeting was accused of sneaking out the announcement in a statement to the House of Commons delivered at the same time as US President held his inauguration in Washington.
Mr Streeting said some patients will be “dissapointed” by the delays but he blamed the previous Conservative Government.
However Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Ed Argar said: “This is a Labour government of broken promises.”
He said: “It is the trust of the British people they have cynically betrayed”.
Mr Argar said Labour claimed during the last election that it would go ahead with the hospital building programme. “But those are seemingly hollow words, now those hospitals are at risk.”
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The previous Conservative Government announced plans to build 40 new hospitals in England by 2030, later reducing the number to 32.
It followed warnings that the cost of repairing existing buildings across the NHS would be £10.2 billion, with 43% of the NHS estate built before 1985. Twenty-two NHS trusts had maintenance backlogs of more than £100 million each.
As a result, the decision was taken to refurbish or replace the buildings rather then carrying out repairs.
Last year however the Labour government announced a review of the scheme, calling it “undeliverable and unaffordable” with 25 projects at risk.
Mr Streeting has now confirmed that some projects will not be completed until – although he admitted “the NHS needs new buildings”.
He accused the of “making promises which they never intended on keeping” and said “the money simply wasn’t there” to build the hospitals.
Hospitals that will now be built between 2030 to 2035 include
- Leicester Royal Infirmary and Glenfield Hospital
- Watford General Hospital
- Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, Sutton
- Kettering General Hospital
- Leeds General Infirmary
- Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton
- Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow
- Torbay Hospital
- Whipps Cross University Hospital, north-east London
Those that will now be built between 2035 and 2039 include
- St Mary’s Hospital, north-west London
- Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, north-west London
- North Devon District Hospital, Barnstaple
- Eastbourne District General, Conquest Hospital and Bexhill Community Hospital
- Hampshire Hospitals
- Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading
- Royal Lancaster Infirmary
- Royal Preston Hospital
- Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) and Nottingham City Hospital
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Liberal Democrats accused the Health Secretary of timing his announcement to coincide with ‘s inauguration. Lib Dem health spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said: “This is a double betrayal. The shamelessly made promises they never intended to keep to countless communities served by crumbling hospitals.
“Now this government uses the day of Trump’s inauguration in a shoddy attempt to bury bad news, showing an outrageous disregard for patients.
“Instead of ducking scrutiny, the Health Secretary needs to publish the full impact assessment of these delays.
“Patients have a right to know just how at risk they are, and how many more delays they will have to suffer as a result of the government’s decision.”