Hospitals

Debate between Edward Morello and Danny Beales

Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

I am glad that we are taking the time today to discuss the immensely important issue of the state of our NHS hospitals. Nowhere is it more obvious that our NHS has been broken over the past 14 years than in our crumbling NHS estate. Our NHS has been starved of capital funding, and the backlog maintenance bill now stands at more than £11 billion. Research from the NHS Confederation shows that nine in 10 NHS leaders believe that the crumbling NHS estate is undermining their ability to tackle the elective backlog. This is devastating. It is apparent in my constituency, with Hillingdon hospital plagued by flooding, sewage overflows, failing lifts and outdated equipment.

The need for a new hospital in Hillingdon is not new—my predecessor’s predecessor described the hospital as no longer fit for purpose many years ago, and pledged at the time to replace it. The Lib Dems are right today in their condemnation of the previous Government’s record, with their fantasy hospital programme that seemed to exist only in the mind of Boris Johnson, and never in the reality of the Treasury’s decisions. Residents in Uxbridge have been led up the garden path time and again, with false promises upon false promises, a funding package that was never approved and building works that never began—to this day, not a stone has been laid and no ground has been broken. At the election, no business case had been agreed, the hospital design was still being tweaked, and no contractor had been appointed. Rather than being fully funded, only £70 million of £1 billion had ever been provided.

I am glad, therefore, that the Labour Government have prioritised capital investment, with capital spending increasing by £13.6 billion in the Budget, and I am grateful for the progress we are now making with a realistic, honest and deliverable timescale for the programme. After years of broken promises, people are fed up and need action, delivery and credible commitments. That is why it is disappointing that the Lib Dem motion today, if approved, risks leading again to unfunded commitments, promising to deliver all the hospitals simply through a new taskforce. That is not how hospitals are built or paid for. It does not feel to me like a credible funded programme; instead, it is a recipe for more talk, more delay and more inaction.

I know that the community in Uxbridge and South Ruislip are now reassured that Hillingdon hospital has been included in wave 1, with a capital envelope agreed in recent weeks of nearly £1.4 billion. Instead of more words or a taskforce, we have delivered solid agreements and funded commitments—a real plan for change. The hospital is now finalising its business case and design. A contractor will be appointed and on site in 2027, and construction work will start in 2028. It is essential that the new hospital programme continues to work at pace to provide my constituents and all residents in this country with the quality of care they deserve. I am sure the Minister would expect all Members to hold the Government to account for the delivery of the programme.

Turning to the concrete actions we could take to deliver the hospital programme more quickly, long-term revenue funding for new wave 1 teams is much needed so that they can work at pace, as well as a simplified planning process for new hospitals. I welcome the Government’s planning reforms and Planning and Infrastructure Bill. I hope that Lib Dem Members will support the Bill, which seeks to speed up the delivery of critical national infrastructure.

As well as investment in hospitals, we need investment right across our NHS estate, as has been discussed today. I have met GPs who are using store cupboards as consulting spaces and heard from pharmacies that want to do more but are desperately lacking the space to deliver Pharmacy First services in privacy. The Wakley centre, which provides sexual health services in my constituency, is crammed into an outdated building, using every inch of space, and is desperate for more modern space to do preventive work.

[Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD)]

I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman on the need for investment outside of hospitals, but does he agree that we also need smarter investment? Dorset NHS foundation trust, along with Somerset NHS foundation trust and university hospitals Dorset, has submitted a business case for an integrated electronic health record system that would allow them to work together, share information and, ultimately, save the NHS money. Does he agree that this is exactly the kind of technological advancement the NHS should be funding?

[Danny Beales]

We need to think not just about buildings, but about digital infrastructure and investment in a whole range of capital investment needs for the NHS for it to be a modern, fit-for-purpose service. It sounds like the measures the hon. Gentleman suggests are sensible.

There is a strong desire in the emerging 10-year plan to shift to neighbourhood health services, which would also require capital investment. Three neighbourhood hubs are planned in Hillingdon, but there are still no clear sites and no capital investment to make them a reality. We need a long-term infrastructure strategy for the NHS, alongside our 10-year health plan. I welcome the significant increase in capital spending for the NHS at the Budget. I also think the Government’s new commitment to protect capital budgets in the NHS is vital. Far too often, under the previous Government, those budgets were raided for short-term investment to plug revenue-based gaps; now that has come to an end, which is very welcome.

My constituents have waited long enough for Hillingdon hospital. We do not need more taskforces or reviews, but concrete funded plans of action. At last, we have from this new Labour Government a fully funded new hospital programme ready to be delivered. I look forward to construction starting and working with this Government to deliver health services that are fit for the future.