Campaign group may have to restart after Labour pressed pause on hospital rebuild

A prominent campaign group will consider taking to the streets once again if a delay on Lynn’s hospital rebuild drags on for too long.Jo Rust, a borough councillor and key member of the Save the QEH group, says members will “wait a little while” to see how long the new Labour government takes before re-confirming funding for the crumbling Queen Elizabeth Hospital.This comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the New Hospitals Programme, introduced under the previous Conservative administration, is now under review as she seeks to plug a financial “black hole” in the economy.

This means that the rebuild of Lynn’s hospital is now at a standstill once again despite a 2030 deadline being set.“It is disappointing of course, but it is also fully expected,” Cllr Rust said.“This could turn out better for our hospital, because the plans that were being drawn up, in my opinion, were all based on the fact that they had to be rushed through.

“In my opinion, that 2030 deadline was not going to be hit.” However, Cllr Rust does acknowledge that deadline was put in place due to the unsafe conditions at the current building, which is being held up by thousands of props.The Save the QEH group was instrumental in lobbying for the hospital to be included in the New Hospitals Programme, with campaigners frequently protesting at the site before an announcement was finally made in May last year. They must have thought those days were over – but perhaps not.“We will wait a little while and then reconvene and see if that campaign needs to restart,” Cllr Rust said.“The same goes for whether it is a Labour government or a Conservative government.” She is critical of the way the Tories handled the QEH scheme, and slams them for not actually releasing any of the funding despite confirming it.Ms Reeves has claimed that many of the Conservative pledges made under Rishi Sunak were unfunded, hence her decision to review the programme.Terry Jermy, the Labour MP for South West Norfolk, told the Lynn News that a hospital rebuild is still “a priority” for him – and he believes it also remains so for the Government.James Wild, his North West Norfolk Conservative counterpart, believes the delay will cause “further damaging delay and uncertainty for NHS staff and patients”. Rob Colwell, a Gaywood county councillor who ran against Mr Wild in the recent general election, has also criticised the Tories.He described the original hospital funding announcement as “just another unfunded spending commitment by an untrustworthy Tory ex-government”.However, he also stressed that campaigning will have to restart if Labour takes too long over its decision.“I hope the Labour pause is as short as possible and we can get on with spades in the ground before the end of the year,” Cllr Colwell said.“Otherwise the banners will be back out and protests redoubled, as constituents were very angry on the doorsteps over the scandal to date.”