New Hospitals Set for England

On 15^th July, the UK Government announced the launch of a selection process for eight new hospitals in England.

Hundreds of thousands of people in England are set to benefit from new NHS facilities and services. Ministers announced the opening of the selection process for eight new hospitals as part of the biggest hospital building programme in a generation.

The Government has said it is committed to help the NHS build back better from the Coronavirus pandemic, and one of the centrepieces of this ambition will be delivering on the manifesto commitment of 40 new hospitals throughout England by 2030, which is backed by an initial £3.7 billion investment.

The new hospitals will provide better care for patients, improved working environments for staff and will help the NHS reach its net zero carbon ambition.

Currently the national programme comprises eight pre-existing schemes and 40 new hospitals ‒ a total of 48 hospitals. In October 2020, the Government named 32 of the 40 new hospitals, and is now calling for NHS trusts to submit their expressions of interest to be one of the final eight hospitals.

A new ‘Our NHS Buildings’ website has also been launched. This will be the official home of the Government’s major NHS infrastructure projects across the country, including hospital builds and upgrades. The website will give regular updates for patients and staff on progress on local schemes, as well as showcasing developments and milestones at each hospital build or upgrade location.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Our plans to deliver 40 new hospitals across the country by 2030 will help us build a better NHS and transform NHS services for local communities.

“The selection process for the further 8 new schemes is a huge opportunity for more areas to benefit from the biggest hospital building programme in a generation, and I encourage trusts to apply.

“We will take forward the bold and ambitious plans to improve care, level up investment and prioritise sustainable design.”

Expressions of interest are invited by September from all mental health, community and acute NHS trusts that wish their plans to be considered. Later this year there will be a more detailed second stage process for long-listed schemes, with a final decision expected in spring 2022.

The selection process will prioritise plans for:

• services which transform joined-up care for people and provide an effective working environment for NHS staff, in line with the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan
• fair allocations of investment to level up across regions and provide value for money, with an emphasis on mental health trusts
• stronger and greener NHS buildings that make the most of modern methods of construction to support sustainable, greener and efficient design

Health Minister Edward Argar said: “As we build back better from the pandemic, we are offering 8 more trusts the chance to benefit from this historic undertaking. I look forward to seeing how our 40 new hospitals will apply lessons learned from COVID-19 and future-proof hospital design and construction.

“The investment in our NHS buildings will transform health services for millions of people for decades to come, by putting world-class patient care, staff wellbeing and sustainability first.”

All the new hospitals will benefit from being part of the government’s nationally led programme under the health infrastructure plan, which is designed to ensure the programme delivers value for money for use of the limited national public funding envelope available.

Experience will be shared across the schemes, which will be built over the next decade, so they can be built as quickly as possible while prioritising standardisation, digital technology, sustainability and modern methods of construction.

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