Shotley Bridge Hospital rebuild set for 2025-2030 as Labour government revises project
The rebuilding of Shotley Bridge Hospital is now set for between 2025 and 2030, as the Labour government has revised the project.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting gave an update in the House of Commons today, after his government reviewed the 'New Hospitals Programme', which saw Boris Johnson promise 40 new hospitals in 2019.
The plans for Shotley Bridge Hospital in Consett were originally approved by Durham County Council in March 2023, but the proposed purpose-built facility on Genesis Way has seen delays due to 'multiple factors'.
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Wes Streeting MP, speaking in Westminster today, criticised the Conservatives for breaking people's trust, and described the promise of 40 new hospitals as a 'work of fiction', saying that "the money simply wasn't there."
He continued: "In 2019 they told the British people they would build 40 new hospitals over the coming decades. They weren't all new, some of them weren't hospitals and there weren't 40 of them", and added that the project was 'years behind schedule', with the money due to run out in March.
The Health Secretary went on to say that he has secured £3billion a year towards the new hospitals, in addition to the already announced £1billion to tackle dangerous RAAC in hospitals and £1.5bn for surgical hubs and diagnostic centres.
This financial addition takes the total capital investment to £13.6billion, with Mr Streeting saying that this is the 'largest in the NHS since Labour was last in office'.
Promising to give patients an honest, realistic timetable that they can believe in, the Health Secretary said: "To make sure that every penny of taxpayers' money is well spent and every hospital is delivered as quickly as possible, we will shortly launch a new framework for the construction of the new schemes.
Wes Streeting closed his statement by criticising the Conservatives for making promises 'they knew could never be kept, adding: "I know patients in some parts of the country will be disappointed by this new timetable. They are right to be.
"They were led up the garden path by three Conservative Prime Ministers, all promising hospitals with no credible plan for funding to deliver them and the Conservative MPs who stood on a manifesto promise they knew could never be kept. We will not treat the British people with the same contempt, and we will never play fast and loose with the public's trust.
"The plan we have laid out today is honest, funded and can actually be delivered. It is a serious, credible plan to build the hospitals our NHS needs. It will take time, but this Labour government is determined to rebuild our NHS and rebuild trust in politics."
For further information, visit the Department of Health and Social Care section of the Government website here.