Government should think again over new hospital timeline

In his weekly column, MP James Wild vents his frustration over delays in the new hospital rebuild…There was very disappointing news last week as the health secretary announced that construction on a new Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Lynn would be delayed with work not starting until 2027-2028 and completion now not until 2032-3. Not the 2030 date committed to under the last Conservative government – a date which Labour promised to meet during the general election.This unwelcome and unnecessary delay was announced in an update on the New Hospitals Programme review. Yet only two weeks ago QEH said it expected work to start in mid-2025 on the new multi-storey car park – the key enabling project – with completion expected in mid-2026. This would have allowed work to begin on the main hospital building in mid-2026 so that it would be ready to open by 2030.

That position was also set out in the QEH Trust public board meeting papers and was reported in this paper. It came after QEH recruited expert consultants to help them deliver to that timeframe. But it seems these plans have been ignored by the government and we don’t know why.It was certainly a surprising announcement given the health secretary has said he recognised the urgency of a new QEH due to RAAC safety issues. Only in November, he committed to the 2030 plan when I challenged him on it in the House of Commons. Just as surprising were the comments by the Labour MP for South West Norfolk saying he was “absolutely delighted” at the news.In parallel with this new hospital programme review, the health secretary has commissioned an updated site-by-site report of the RAAC hospitals to better understand the impact of the substantial mitigation work that has taken place since May 2023. This will inform decisions in the delivery of the replacement hospitals.The report and findings are due in summer 2025. Again it is not clear on what basis the health secretary has delayed the scheme when he has at the same time ordered a review on the delivery timeframe.

Given it was an independent expert review that found the end of life of QEH was 2030 on safety grounds, this decision by the Labour government will be worrying for patients, staff, and our community. I’ve asked ministers for the basis on which they are now seemingly ignoring this report and delaying a new hospital by two years – a report which led to QEH being made a priority scheme by the last government.People I’ve spoken to are despairing at this broken promise and it seems that a year on from the general election the government will not have approved any work to get on with the new hospital. This is so frustrating after the delays and campaigning that got us to a place where QEH was ready to go.

The only saving grace is there is the opportunity through the site-specific report on QEH to demonstrate the need to build the new hospital by 2030 and that there is a plan to do so. That’s what the Trust has said they have and I’ll work with them to make that case. The government should think again.