Crumbling Surrey hospital will be transformed after major Government update
Patients and staff at a crumbly and leaking Surrey hospital will finally get a building they deserve after a major development project was given the green-light. Plans to rebuild Frimley Park Hospital will go ahead despite the government’s review of major NHS major building projects.
The hospital, made up of around 65 per cent unstable concrete, was granted funding for a replacement building through the previous government’s New Hospital Programme in May 2023. But the project's future was thrown into doubt after the new Labour government announced the review to plug a £22bn black hole in the public’s finances.
Frimley Park bosses and campaigners have now welcomed the news that will see the hospital transformed, after Department of Health and Social Care announced it would not be included in the review as it was “out of scope”, meaning the redevelopment can go ahead.
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Hospitals which are wholly or mostly constructed from Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) have not been included in the review to prioritise patient safety. Projects where hospitals have details on the feasibility of its construction have also been excluded.
RAAC was first discovered at Frimley Park Hospital in 2012. The hospital has about 7,000 RAAC planks in key areas such as operating theatres, intensive care units, wards and corridors.
Caroline Hutton, deputy chief executive for the NHS trust and senior responsible officer for the new Frimley Park Hospital, said the trust was "delighted" to be given the green light and move forward with plans.
She said: “We are being actively supported by the national New Hospital Programme to maintain progress to ensure the new hospital will be open as soon as possible. This is an exciting once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to transform the future of healthcare for our staff, patients and local communities."
Patients and staff had previously raised concerns that deteriorating concrete and leaky building could affect patient safety and the overall health of the hospital. Campaigner Ed McGuinness, who’s petition to ‘Save Frimley Park Hospital’ reached nearly 10,000 signatures, said: “From cradle to grave our hospital touches our lives in the most momentous and intimate ways. To have played a small part in securing its future is amazing but YOU [the signatories] have secured your own future moving forward.”
The Surrey Heath resident and former prospective parliamentary candidate thanked the “real heroes of the movement” who supported the campaign and shared the petition. Mr McGuinness previously told the LDRS: "By keeping the hospital, the centre of the community, healthy and alive it supports everything else.”
'Realistic timeline'
Around 54 hospitals were found to have RAAC in the country, but the severity of its condition differs. Frimley Park Hospital is just one of seven affected hospitals that was put on the new hospital programme to replace the building.
Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said: “Patient safety is our priority, so RAAC-affected hospitals, alongside those where the Full Business Cases is already approved, will not form part of the review and will continue as planned.”
He said the government will “be honest with patients” and “put the programme on a sustainable footing”. Mr Streeting added that programmes will be re-assessed to ensure “clear evidence” of how projects will be funded with a “realistic timeline for delivery”.
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