New Hospital Programme and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 13th June 2023 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a real pleasure to speak in this debate, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) on securing it on this issue. He is indeed a hardy, dedicated and assiduous MP. I say that in all honesty, because I think the good people of Hammersmith have an excellent MP, and they should be very proud of the efforts he makes on behalf of his people in the Chamber and Westminster Hall.

This debate is about the new hospital programme, which applies to the UK mainland. I have come along to add my support to the hon. Gentleman, as I do for many right hon. and hon. Members, here and in the main Chamber. That is my purpose for being here. I am also here to discuss the new hospital programme, which was announced at the 2019 Conservative manifesto launch and would have delivered 40 new hospitals in the UK by 2030. I understand the reasons for the delays—the covid pandemic has focused attention elsewhere and taken away much of the funding—but there is a real need, and hon. Members have made that case today on behalf of their constituents.

I also understand the position of the hon. Member for Hammersmith on the refurbishment works at Charing Cross and Hammersmith Hospitals. As MPs, we want the best of care, access and opportunities for our constituents, and delays to any work are often frustrating, so I understand the request very well, and support his position and his ongoing commitment to his constituents.

I am pleased to see the Minister in his place. He responded to the first debate in Westminster Hall this morning on cancer very well. If he answers hon. Members in the same way in this debate as he did in that one, they will be more than satisfied. With the support of the new hospital programme, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is beginning the next phase of redevelopment planning work for its three main hospital sites, all of which are included in the 40 new hospitals that the Government have committed to building by 2030.

I will quickly give a Northern Ireland perspective: what is happening here is also happening back home. It is important that we all remember that the demands for hospital care and better hospitals are not just in London; they are across the whole of this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has around 3% of all hospitals, with 40 across the Province.

In a constituency neighbouring mine, Belfast East, we have Ulster Hospital, which is the main hospital for us and is currently undergoing a £261 million revamp being done in stages. I believe that we are now going into section C of this refurbishment. So far there have been developments to a 30,000-square-metre in-patient block that is six storeys high, with a day surgery unit, an endoscopy unit, an angiography unit, and a cardiac investigation unit, with 12 in-patient wards. It is very much a modern hospital and very much of the modern programme that we have in Northern Ireland. The Minister is not responsible for that, but I just wanted to put it on record.

In order to clear our waiting lists, it is crucial that we do all we can to update outdated and old facilities. For a modern society and a fully functioning working hospital, things need to be modern and up to date. That is what the hon. Gentleman has asked for, and that is important. Hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland are supposed to be banished by 2026—that is pie in the sky, in all honesty—according to a roadmap set out by the former health Minister, Robin Swann. More than 330,000 people are on some sort of waiting list in Northern Ireland and the new elective care framework proposes a £700 million investment over five years. It is important that the Government are committed to the requests of the hon. Member for Hammersmith and the hon. Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck), and to other requests that will follow.

[Sir Mark Hendrick (in the Chair)]

Order. Health is devolved in Northern Ireland, and the focus of this is very much on—

[Jim Shannon]

That is what I have done in my comments, Sir Mark. I just want to give you the example of Northern Ireland—

[Sir Mark Hendrick (in the Chair)]

But it is not a speech about the Northern Ireland health service, surely.

[Jim Shannon]

I have every hope that the Department of Health and Social Care will be able to give us timely updates on hospitals in England. This is a discussion I always have with those in the devolved Assemblies. We must—I conclude with this—do our best for our constituents and ensure that the collective facilities are in place to serve their needs. I hope the work in the constituency of the hon. Member for Hammersmith will commence soon as some reassurance for his constituents. He put his case forward—the Minister, I am sure, will respond—and I support him in what he has requested.