Outrage as £350m Torbay Hospital rebuild is delayed
Labour Ministers' decision to delay a £350m project to rebuild Torbay Hospital has sparked outrage among local health campaigners, including a former MP who had worked with local health teams to secure the funding.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced in Parliament today (Monday, January 20, 2025) that Torbay would be moved into what he called "Wave 2" of the projects. This means construction might not begin until 2035, effectively pushing the project into the next Parliament and possibly resulting in Torbay's new hospital buildings not being completed until the late 2030s.
Torbay Hospital, the third-oldest in the country, still uses buildings constructed in the 1920s on a daily basis.
READ MORE: Torquay street fight leaves man with neck slashed
READ MORE: Once thriving UK seaside town now 'depressing' with quarter of shops empty
Despite recent significant capital investments in Torbay's NHS, such as the new Acute Medical Unit, Endoscopy Suite, and Day Surgery Unit, the Building a Brighter Future project for Torbay Hospital represented the largest single investment in South Devon's healthcare services since the NHS was established in 1948. The project was pledged by the previous Conservative Government, with plans well underway and construction on enabling works set to start last year, aiming to deliver the new facilities by 2030.
When the Labour Government announced in September that Torbay Hospital's rebuild was "under review", locals quickly signed an online petition organised by Kevin Foster, urging the Health Secretary to keep his promises. Last week's announcement of funding for the Emergency Department at Torbay Hospital was well-received locally, but campaigners insist it is no substitute for the much-needed and urgent rebuild.
Mr Foste, expressed his shock: "News Torbay Hospital's rebuild might not even start until 2035, is a shock and a blow to our bay. It is hard to see how the urgent need to replace buildings dating back to the 1920s at Torbay Hospital, the 3rd oldest in the NHS still in daily use, did not see it placed higher on Labour's priority list, with a rebuild now unlikely to be completed before the mid-late 2030s, if at all.
"Before the election Labour and the Lib Dems dismissed any suggestions plans for our hospital rebuild would be threatened by a change of Government. Today Ministers have kicked the plan into not just the next parliament, but the one after that! ".
"It's a reminder Labour won't and the Lib Dems can't deliver for our bay."
Liberal Democrat Steve Darling, the MP for Torbay, said: "Patient safety is at risk, and we’ve been left desperately let down.
“We can’t wait any longer. The Conservatives broke their promise to our community, and now this Labour government has kicked the issue into the long grass.
“The Health Secretary must immediately release the impact assessment to show how these delays will affect people here and how much longer we’ll be stuck with inadequate local health services. I, along with other Liberal Democrats, will continue to fight for our community every single day until we get the commitments we deserve.”
South Devon MP, Caroline Voaden said: “This Government was elected on a desire for change, but today’s decision is just more of the same. For years, Torbay Hospital was repeatedly let down by the Conservatives, and Labour are picking up where they left off.
"For the Government to delay repairs to a hospital whose estate is nearly entirely unfit for purpose is unforgivable. This decision must urgently be reviewed; it’s unacceptable that in 2024, patients are being treated in a hospital with a leaking roof, crumbling concrete and sewage running down the corridor.”
MP for Newton Abbot, Martin Wrigley added: “Having toured Torbay Hospital, and seen the state of decay, I am dismayed that this has been kicked into the long grass. The hospital is not fit for purpose, and the people of Newton Abbot have yet again been let down, Devon deserves better after years of Conservative cuts.”