Construction has only just begun on the government’s bold pledge to create 40 new hospitals by 2030.
So far, only two sites have been built under the pledge made by ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the 2019 Tories election manifesto.
But main construction work at 33 facilities has yet to begin, it was revealed today. Five more are currently under construction.
Most hospitals, both new sites and renovations of existing ones, are still waiting for their final budget. It is feared that some projects will be scrapped or severely downsized.
Health chief is ‘frustrated’ by the delays and lack of clarity over the massive project, which No10 originally backed with £3.7 billion in funding.
Construction has only just begun on the government’s bold pledge to create 40 new hospitals by 2030. Funding was confirmed in October 2020, when ministers also invited eight other programs to pitch for funding for essential building upgrades. Ministers said this funding would provide 48 hospitals by 2030
Clips released as part of an ITV investigation show ‘leaks so serious they are flooding and closing corridors’, maternity workers working under sheets full of water and broken doors held shut by bins (pictured)
Pictured: Royal Liverpool Hospital, one of two promised hospitals now open, was flooded 10 times in 2018, delaying patient care and forcing staff to wear boots
It is designed to overhaul crumbling NHS facilities, where patients have experienced broken lifts, leaks, sinking floors and holes in the ceiling. In some hospitals, sewage leaks into cancer wards, maternity units and emergency rooms.
The pledge of 40 hospitals was a cornerstone of the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto.
Funding was confirmed in October 2020, when ministers also invited eight other programs to pitch for funding for essential building upgrades.
Ministers said this funding would provide 48 hospitals by 2030.
However, some of these are not entirely new hospitals. Some are just upgrades to cancer wards or medical education centers.
And of the 40 hospital constructions the Tories announced in 2020, eight were already planned projects.
a BBC research – based on the original 40 plans – found that only the Royal Liverpool and the Northern Center for Cancer Care are open and ready for patients.
The former was a replacement for a hazardous cladding building – due to be completed in 2017 – while the latter was an additional site to bring all non-surgical cancer services in Newcastle and North Cumbria under one roof.
Lack of funding proved to be a contributing factor, with 31 of the projects telling the BBC that although some money had been provided to get started, they didn’t have enough money to begin main construction work.
This is not a one-hospital problem, as 50 percent of trusts responding to the survey claimed to have at least one unresolved structural or maintenance issue
Some hospital wards have become so unsafe they have been closed (pictured) and what was once an intensive care unit is being used as storage space due to a broken ventilation system
Only eight of the 40 hospitals said they had received full funding, and one wanted answers.
Julian Hartley, from NHS Providers, said clarity on funding is urgently needed so construction work can begin, highlighting the deterioration of healthcare facilities.
The cost of arrears maintenance in the NHS has more than doubled from £4.7bn in 2011 to £10.2bn a decade later. Work to be carried out varies from leaking gutters and faulty elevators to the structure of hospital buildings.
“There are several hospitals that are made of aerated concrete, for example – where ceilings are literally supported by steel beams and security is provided around the clock,” said Sir Hartley.
“Many trusts have experienced flooding, raw sewage due to aging infrastructure and mental health services are absolutely critical here when the environment is so important to patients.”
Nigel Edwards, of health think tank the Nuffield Trust, said the government’s promise was “big and somewhat vague”, adding that he felt ministers underestimate how long it will take to change the way hospitals are designed, built and planned .
“It was never clear that there was enough money available to do something like the scale of construction they wanted,” said Mr Edwards, who said meeting the 2030 target is “extremely unlikely”.
Six projects should be completed by 2025, but none of these sites have obtained full planning permission or funding to date.
One of these was the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in Surrey, which says the cost to bring the building and equipment up to standard is £130 million.
An ITV investigation into St Helier Hospital in February showed it had leaks so severe they flooded and closed corridors. Maternity workers were also caught working under waterlogged sheets and broken doors left open by waste bins.
Some wards had become so unsafe that they were closed, and what was once an intensive care unit was used as storage space due to a broken ventilation system.
The survey also found that many NHS doctors feel that maintenance issues are downplayed and even hidden, but are too afraid to speak out for fear of repercussions.
St Helier’s chief physician, Ruth Charlton, told the BBC it was not safe to enter one ward because ‘the foundations are crumbling and windows are falling out’.
She said she doesn’t see the works completed by 2025 and gave an “optimistic” estimate of 2027.
“I am frustrated on behalf of our patients, their families or staff that they cannot receive health care in the kind of facility where I would want my family to receive health care,” Dr Charlton added.
Sir Hartley said: ‘There is definitely an urgent need for decisions on how to move forward, both on the 40 new hospitals and on how we will tackle the aging infrastructure in the medium to long term.
“Because the point is, if we don’t do this, it will only get worse.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Care said it remains committed to delivering all 40 hospitals by 2030.
Numerous factors, including delays in the government’s plan for new hospitals, are responsible for Britain’s crumbling hospitals.
Labour’s failed private finance initiatives (PFI) – extended to the NHS when it was last in power – have also fallen short, critics say.
Under PFI schemes, private firms paid for the construction of new hospitals, with trusts that paid them back with interest over 30 or more years. Hospitals are currently paying out more than £2bn a year as part of the deal.