Hospitals

Andrew Cooper Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Cooper (Mid Cheshire) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the earlier speech of my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Connor Naismith). I hope Members will forgive me, but they are about to be treated to more information about the hospitals of Mid Cheshire and south Cheshire.

We on the Labour Benches are incredibly proud of our NHS. It is one of our country’s greatest achievements, and is founded on the principle that everyone, no matter their background or circumstances, should have access to high-quality healthcare that is free at the point of use. That simple idea has saved millions of lives, and offered comfort, healing and hope to generations. However, after 14 years of Conservative failure, the NHS was left on life support, with record waiting lists, surgeries and appointments cancelled or delayed, a workforce worn down and undervalued, and hospitals crumbling. That is the legacy of the previous Conservative Government— a legacy of neglect, underfunding and broken promises. Nowhere is that clearer than in the new hospital programme that they introduced in 2020. This was meant to be their flagship plan to modernise the NHS estate—to replace crumbling buildings and ensure that patients and staff had the safe, modern environments that they deserve—but the scheme was built on shaky foundations.

From the start, the scheme was plagued by delays, confusion and a complete lack of proper funding. The reality behind the headlines was that very few hospitals saw any real progress. In many cases, the money simply was not there. Let me take the case of Leighton hospital, which serves my constituents in Northwich, Winsford and Middlewich, and four other hospitals across the country. All are known to be riddled with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. Experts warned of a “catastrophic” risk to patient safety. Structural engineers said an incident was “likely”. In simple terms, these buildings were falling down, but what did the previous Government do? When the programme was first published, the plans to rebuild those five hospitals were blocked. The previous Government chose to ignore the warnings, ignore the patients and ignore NHS staff working every day in buildings that had been declared unsafe.

It was not until 2023 that the previous Government finally amended the new hospital programme to include Leighton and the other RAAC-affected hospitals. By then, years had already been wasted—time that we did not have—and even that decision came without a real plan, without a timeline and, crucially, without the funding needed to do the job.

What was offered to my local community was not a solution; it was false hope dressed up as progress. The promises crumbled faster than the hospitals that the previous Government failed to rebuild. In contrast, this Government are delivering. We are not just talking about change; we are making it happen. We are rebuilding the NHS from the foundations up and, just as importantly, rebuilding trust that the Government will deliver on their promises on the NHS. At Leighton hospital, we are proving it: the funding has been confirmed to the trust; the ground investigations are under way; and the project is moving forward. This is not just talk, but action. But let us be clear: rebuilding Leighton is not just a matter of replacing concrete; this is our opportunity to do something bigger. We have a chance to build a healthcare neighbourhood that reflects the future—a modern, resilient facility that will serve communities for generations to come and will meet the challenges of 21st century healthcare. This is not just about bricks and mortar; it is about people, it is about care and it is about building a system that reflects our values.

We are tackling the root causes of the crisis that the Conservatives have left behind. We are reducing waiting lists through more appointments, better use of technology, and support for our overstretched staff. We are training and recruiting the doctors, nurses, and carers of the future. We are ending the sticking plaster politics of the last decade and a half and building an NHS that is fit for the future.