PM announces £3.7bn for 40 hospitals to be built by 2030 to help protect the NHS in the future
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that 40 hospitals will be built by 2030 as part of a package worth £3.7 billion, with eight further new schemes invited to bid for future funding as part of the government’s major hospital building programme.
The UK Government has said that new standards will be developed over the coming months to help standardise the design of new hospitals and make use of modular construction methods to speed up the build.
According to the government, the health infrastructure plan (HIP) is “the biggest hospital building programme in a generation”. It launched last September with a £2.8 billion investment that gave six new hospitals the funding to go ahead, alongside seed funding for trusts to work up business cases.
The trusts that received seed funding will now all be fully funded to deliver 25 new hospitals. A new hospital in Shotley Bridge, North England, is also being added to the programme.
Other new schemes will be invited to bid for funding for eight more new hospitals to deliver 48 hospitals by 2030, with a proportion of these being mental health hospitals.
The long-term investment in these new hospitals will ensure the NHS can continue to provide high-quality care across the country now and in the future.
The full list of the 40 new hospitals can be found on the UK Government’s website
Prime Minister Boris 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.”
Alongside the new funding commitments, as announced last year, 20 hospitals will receive a share of £850 million to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment, with enabling works already beginning at several sites.
Over the summer, the PM also announced £1.5 billion in capital funding for the NHS, including £450 million for 142 A&E upgrades ahead of winter to improve infection control and increase capacity.
This investment will be on top of the record extra £33.9 billion a year by 2023 to 2024 that the government is providing to the NHS and passed into law this year.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock commented: “We protected the NHS through the peak of coronavirus. Today we recommit to protect the NHS for years to come with the 40 new hospitals we will build over the next decade.
“I love the NHS and I will do all I can to make sure it is there for you and your family over the years to come. The biggest hospital building programme in a generation will help protect the NHS long into the future.”
Alongside the funding boost for 40 new hospitals, progress is also being made on delivering 50,000 more nurses, with over 14,100 more working in the NHS compared to last year, as well as over 9,200 more doctors.