Labour has promised to complete plans to rebuild four London hospitals if the party wins the General Election on July 4.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party has announced it would rebuild Hillingdon Hospital, St Mary’s Hospital, Whipps Cross University Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital as part of its plan to get the NHS back on its feet.
The hospitals make up four of the 40 new hospitals which the Conservatives promised to build in their 2019 general election campaign.
On the first day of the election campaign, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told BBC Breakfast “the majority” of the hospitals planned for construction had already received planning permission and that “spades were in the ground”.
Mr Sunak also told the broadcaster the hospitals would be built by 2030, sparking accusations from the Liberal Democrats that he was “lying like Boris Johnson”.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the Prime Minister “is either lying to the public or doesn’t have the first clue what’s going on” as he promised that Labour was committed to completing the project.
Labour has warned that contracts for the New Hospitals Programme put out to tender by the government this year extend to 2035, claiming the Conservatives are planning for a five-year delay.
Mr Streeting said: “Rishi Sunak has promised voters he’ll build 40 new hospitals by 2030, despite his government planning to delay it for another five years. He is either lying to the public or doesn’t have the first clue what’s going on.
“Rishi Sunak failed to keep his promises to cut waiting lists or build a single new hospital. Given another five years in charge, he’ll fail again and waiting lists will hit 10 million.
“Only Labour has a plan to deliver the change our NHS needs. We are committed to delivering the New Hospitals Programme, including The Hillingdon Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, Whipps Cross University Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital.
“And we will cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 extra appointments a week at evenings and weekends, paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers and non-doms. We need doctors, not dodgers; nurses not non-doms.”
