Implementation of Boris Johnson’s flagship pledge to build 40 new hospitals is “moving at a glacial pace” and is hamstrung by delays and a lack of funding, NHS bosses have warned.
Some of the construction schemes have already fallen as much as four years behind schedule, while others have been hit by massive cost increases because of difficulties in obtaining sign-off on certain points.
The new hospitals programme in England is progressing so slowly that bosses of half of the hospitals earmarked to benefit doubt whether they will ever get the money to deliver the promised rebuild, according to a report and survey of health service trust chiefs by NHS Providers.
The government launched its health infrastructure plan in September 2019 with a pledge to build six new hospitals and provide seed funding for 21 other trusts. Building 40 new hospitals was a key Conservative commitment in the 2019 general election campaign. From the start, ministers have been accused of overpromising and underdelivering.
However, hospital bosses at many of the 35 trusts involved have been left struggling to explain to their local communities why more has not happened, despite the prime minister’s rhetoric, NHS Providers found. And the instability within government caused by this week’s wave of ministerial resignations and uncertainty around Johnson’s future have raised further doubts about when the 40 will finally be finished.
“The new hospital programme was already moving at a glacial pace and any political paralysis which will slow this progress even further will just be deeply unhelpful to trusts … We could see the enthusiasm to push forward and make decisions dwindle,” said Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers.
There are “significant question marks over the level of funding available and how that funding is going to reach the trusts that need it”, she added.
The survey, based on responses from chief executives or directors of finance or strategy at 26 of the 35 trusts, also found that 39% of new hospital schemes will not be completed on time. Bosses at 62% of them fear that inadequate old buildings are imperilling patient safety.
One hospital in a rural area had to send seriously ill patients to other hospitals as much as 50 miles away and cancel cancer surgery when an inspection found that the ceiling of its intensive care unit was in danger of collapsing.
Another hospital has had to close an entire ward for the same reason, while another is plagued with sewage regularly leaking into clinical areas because of the age of the facility.
One trust chief executive said: “The whole fabric of the building is shot and we need to rebuild. The build was supposed to be completed in 2024 but [we are] now looking at 2027.”
Another boss said: “We operate 21st-century healthcare from 19th-century buildings – increasingly unsustainable.”
A third chief added: “The malaise afflicting the rebuilding programme is a real risk to patient safety and one of the biggest unspoken crises that have gradually crept up on the NHS.”
Bosses believe the £3.7bn allocated for the scheme will be nowhere near enough, especially with the recent big rises in the cost of construction schemes linked to supply problems and labour shortages.
“Delays caused by the government’s incompetence are costing taxpayers dear and leaving patients waiting longer,” said Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary. “The new hospitals programme is just another example of the Conservatives’ failure to deliver on their promises.”
Last weekend the Observer disclosed that the National Audit Office, the Whitehall spending watchdog, intends to review the new hospitals programme.
The Department of Health and Social Care insisted that it would build 40 “new hospitals” by 2030.
“We will deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. Together with eight existing schemes, this will mean 48 hospitals delivered by the end of the decade, with six currently under construction and one now complete,” a spokesperson said.
“We are working closely with NHS trusts in the programme on the development of their building plans. Each of the building projects will be new hospitals providing brand new, state-of-the-art facilities to ensure world-class provision of healthcare for NHS patients and staff by replacing outdated infrastructure.”
