Johnson criticised for ‘rehashed’ hospitals announcement

The Prime Minister has confirmed that 40 hospitals will be built by 2030 as part of a package worth £3.7 billion, but has been accused of repetition and a lack of honesty.

Boris Johnson said that 40 hospitals will be built by 2030, with eight further new schemes invited to bid, delivering on the government’s manifesto commitment. The government maintains that its health infrastructure plan (HIP) is the biggest hospital building programme in a generation, having launched last September with a £2.8 billion investment that gave six new hospitals the funding to go ahead.

However with new details released, it is being contested that the bulk of the projects announced by the Conservative leader involve rebuilding or consolidation, and that only four have been started. In addition to this, NHS Providers has argued that the real cost of building 40 new hospitals would be closer to £20 billion.

Of the 40 hospitals to receive funding,  26 form part of the second phase of the infrastructure plan, due to take place between 2025 and 2030. Six more are planned under the first stage, by 2025. Of the other eight, four are already being built, and four more are awaiting final approval. More than half the projects are also not new hospitals, but comprise rebuilding projects on existing sites, consolidations of other hospitals, or extra units.

It has previously been argued that the initial programme involved the bulk of money going to just six sites, with a much smaller pot of £100 million set aside for seed funding among 34 hospitals.

The four hospitals already being built are in Sandwell in the West Midlands, north Cumbria, Liverpool and Brighton. Those awaiting approval are in London, Morpeth in Northumberland, Manchester and Nottingham.

Opposition have also stressed that more money is needed for mental health hospitals, although the government has said that a proportion of the eight schemes invited to bid for further funding will be mental health hospitals.

Johnson said: “The dedication and tireless efforts of our nurses, doctors and all healthcare workers have kept the NHS open throughout this pandemic. But no matter what this virus throws at us, we are determined to build back better and deliver the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. From Morpeth to Milton Keynes, we are building 40 new hospitals across England to level up our NHS so more people have top-class healthcare services in their local area.”

Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour’s Shadow Mental Health Minister, commented: “This rehash of an old announcement is a missed opportunity and extremely disappointing. And it is an insult that mental health – which represents one quarter of all health need – has again lost out. The government must take mental health seriously and provide the resources and facilities it needs.”

Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers deputy chief executive, said: “We welcome the government’s focus on investing in replacing and refurbishing the NHS estate as, for a growing number of trusts, this has now become an urgent problem. Any additional funding to address long neglected infrastructure and facilities to ensure safe, high quality care is welcome and a number of trusts have well developed plans to get this important work under way. At a time when there are a wide range of competing claims for investment, it is good to see the government making a firm commitment to meeting the needs of some parts of the NHS over an extended period.

“Given this long term commitment, we look forward to the follow up work that will be required here. We will need an appropriately funded, long term, NHS capital strategy, hopefully at the comprehensive spending review in November. Building a new, average mid-sized, hospital costs around £500 million, so this is just an initial down payment. If the government wants these hospitals built in the time it is specifying, trusts will need the rest of the capital allocated as soon as possible.

“But not all providers will benefit from today’s announcement. The big disappointment is the absence of any meaningful investment in our crumbling mental health estate. NHS Providers has consistently pointed to this vital need and, every time, we have been reassured that it will be met. Yet, once again, the government seems to only be focussing on acute hospitals.

“As a further example of this continuing disparity, the government has already made two announcements this year allocating vital investment to expanding hospital emergency departments, which has enabled trusts to start this important work. But mental health trusts have still not received the 2020/21 investment they were promised to eliminate inappropriate dormitory ward accommodation. We know that our mental health trust members will be frustrated and angry that they are not a priority and that the needs of their service users are being overlooked once again. If we are serious about treating physical and mental health equally, we need to ensure there is equal investment. Today’s announcement does not give that message.”