PM says rebuilding of RAAC hospitals is his ‘priorty’

The Prime Minister has announced that rebuilding hospitals originally made using Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete will be his “priority”.During the Prime Minister’s Questions held on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer was asked by Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket MP Peter Prinsley whether he agreed the rebuilding of these hospitals was his priority.This comes shortly after Lynn’s crumbling Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s campaign group has decided to reform over fears that timeline goals are not being met with the plan to rebuild the site.

At the end of July, the new Labour government put the rebuild of the QEH on hold as Chancellor Rachel Reeves ordered a review of the hospital programme.During the PMQs, Mr Prinsley said: “I welcome measures put in place to fix the NHS. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that the RAAC hospitals must be a priority as the new government undertakes its review of the new hospitals programme?”In response, Sir Keir said: “We have to reset the new hospital programme and put it on a sustainable footing.

“The last government promised 40 new hospitals. The problem is, there weren’t 40, they were not new and some of them weren’t even hospitals. “Hospitals with RAAC will of course be a priority so we are reviewing the programme and the Secretary of State will update parliament as soon as possible.”North West Norfolk MP James Wild has raised his concerns over the progression of the QEH rebuild. He said: “While it is welcome that the Prime Minister has finally said RAAC hospitals are a priority, the government’s review is causing damaging uncertainty for NHS staff and patients.

“It is two months since they announced a pause to the new hospitals programme and with little progress since. Labour must remove the doubt they caused and unambiguously commit immediately to a new QEH by 2030 .”