New Hospital Programme and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Tuesday 13th June 2023 Westminster Hall

[Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I thank the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) for his work in securing this debate, and I thank Members from across the House for their contributions. I support the points my hon. Friend made. He set out clearly in his speech a great deal of local need and hope for a solution to be found in his area, as have other Members. I would like to add my support to them and to highlight a similar issue at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, which serves both Reading and a very large part of the Royal County of Berkshire.

I start by paying tribute to NHS staff in our county and across the country. They are extremely hard working. They have been through the pandemic and many other great difficulties in recent years and they deserve our respect and support. This rebuilding programme is part of that. It is investing in the future of the country and in the health of our population.

The Royal Berkshire Hospital is one of 40 hospitals that were originally identified by the Government for rebuilding but, sadly, when the announcement was made by the Department of Health and Social Care recently, it was not mentioned. The public and hon. Members present can only imagine the stress that puts staff under, as well as the patients who are waiting for a resolution to many serious building problems in our area. I hope that the Minister will address that point.

Sadly, as my hon. Friend mentioned earlier, the hospital now risks potentially missing out, because if the Government’s plans and assumptions are correct, the pot of money available could run out in 2030 and, as of yet, there is no date for work to start at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

The issues at the hospital are quite clear and are very similar to the ones in London and across the country. The old part of the hospital, the North Block, is 173 years old. The site is a patchwork of buildings from different dates since then, the A&E department is not suitable, and there is a £200 million backlog of repairs—all very similar to the situation my hon. Friend described for west London, which is obviously nearby. There are many other issues, and all of this affects the productivity of the hospital, the experience of patients and, to some extent, the morale of staff. A number of staff, many of whom I know, have contacted me over some months and years to express concerns about this issue, so I hope that today the Minister will be able to clarify the position for the 40 hospitals in London, Reading and many other areas around the country. I hope he will be able to reassure both patients and staff, and give the country the certainty it needs.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for Health and Secondary Care (Will Quince)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. How do I follow that speech by the hon. Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth)? Well, first, I would like to congratulate the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) for bringing forward the debate. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Nickie Aiken) and the hon. Members for Westminster North (Ms Buck), for Strangford (Jim Shannon), for Reading East (Matt Rodda) and for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury). Time is short, but I will try to answer as many points as possible.

The new hospital programme is the biggest hospital building programme in a generation, which will help us deliver on our manifesto commitment to build 40 new hospitals by 2030. The hon. Member for Hammersmith raised a number of specific questions. I am not responsible for the new hospital programme, because that matter sits with Lord Markham. Nevertheless, I will endeavour to answer as many of the hon. Gentleman’s questions as possible. Furthermore, I know that Lord Markham would be pleased to meet him and colleagues, and I will ensure the hon. Gentleman gets a response to his letter.

On 25 May, we announced that the Government remain committed to building 40 new hospitals by 2030, and the new hospital programme is expected to be backed by more than £20 billion in funding for hospital infrastructure. It is the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. Going forward, new schemes will be considered through a rolling programme of capital investment in hospital infrastructure.

[Matt Rodda]

Will the Minister give way?

[Will Quince]

Time is very short, and I ask that the hon. Gentleman to let me answer as many of the questions as I can. If there is time, I will give way.

The programme is part of a more sustainable and consistent approach to delivering state-of-the-art new hospitals and will mean further investment to upgrade NHS facilities across the country. Our announcement is hugely significant to all hospitals in the programme and it gives funding certainty for trusts to progress their schemes in line with revised indicative allocations, most of which are a significant uplift on previous allocations.

I now turn to the specific questions. The hon. Member for Hammersmith said that the debate is about the defunding of the trust. I want to be clear that the trust has been informed of a significantly larger indicative allocation for both schemes than was previously given in 2019. Far from being defunded, the funding envelope has increased significantly.

Furthermore, no schemes have been removed from the programme, as the hon. Gentleman suggested. It is one programme, with a small number of schemes that will now complete beyond 2030. If I might correct the hon. Gentleman, he said that the pot is £20 billion; to be clear, it is over £20 billion.

On Charing Cross, I believe that the hon. Gentleman said that the temporary ward or decant facility will not be necessary until the main construction starts on the tower. That is part of the enabling works that have been raised, which can and should be completed well in advance of the main construction, and therefore can be used as extra capacity should there be a gap between the works. It is the first phase of that floor-by-floor work.

I understand that the main construction itself has not been postponed to start after 2030. We have been clear that, as part of the rolling programme, we may move schemes forward and backward—that question was raised by the hon. Member for Westminster North—based on their readiness to progress. The reason the two Imperial schemes were already in cohort 4 and are now in the rolling programme is that their plans are at such an early stage of development. If they are ready to progress sooner—or indeed other schemes, as the hon. Lady suggested, encounter problems along the way—some schemes may move forward and others may move back. Having the enabling works and business case ready is vital, and I know that hon. Members will have those conversations with the trust.

I will answer some of the other questions in a moment, but specifically on funding, I can confirm that Imperial and all other trusts will now have received confirmation of the individual indicative funding envelopes that give them the basis on which they can submit their proposals through the business case stages. Those individual scheme figures will not be released into the public domain, because they are commercially sensitive. I know that the hon. Member for Hammersmith would like to know the figures, but I hope he will understand why we will not release them: it could prejudice the future ability of contractors for tenders.

We announced that the programme is expected to be backed by over £20 billion, which gives trusts the funding certainty to deliver. We remain committed to delivering all the hospitals in the programme as soon as possible. Specifically on Imperial College, we are working closely with the trust on its two new hospital schemes within the programme. As the hon. Gentleman rightly said, that includes the rebuild of Hammersmith Hospital, the refurbishment of Charing Cross and the redevelopment of St Mary’s in Paddington, as well as any opportunities to commence supportive work ahead of the main construction starting.

Briefly taking each hospital in turn, Charing Cross is a large district general hospital with specialised services. It is a primary undergraduate training centre, and work is under way to explore practical options for a mix of new builds and refurbishment that will be phased across the site. We recognise that the 14-floor tower will need to be refurbished rather than rebuilt, as I mentioned. Other preparatory work that will be necessary, which the hon. Gentleman asked about, includes site-wide surveys and a new energy centre. As with all schemes in the programme, the funding is available for early enabling works such as those as soon as the trusts have their plans ready.

Hammersmith Hospital is a specialist hospital, as the hon. Gentleman said, whose specialisms include renal, haematology, cancer and cardiology care and, of course, its specialist heart attack centre and its research function. Plans for that scheme are also at an early stage of development and will require a phased approach due to space constraints.

Finally, St Mary’s is a large general district hospital, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster rightly pointed out, providing highly specialised services. The hospital will require a complete rebuild, and there are a range of options for a new site. We have been clear that we are establishing a new, centrally led programme to deliver those hospitals, which includes a new approach that enables standardisation.

The hon. Member for Hammersmith asked about the completion date for each hospital. The timelines are at an early stage. As a result, they are fluid, but I know that Lord Markham, the Minister in the Lords, will keep him updated on progress as work is undertaken with the trust to develop its proposals.

With a minute to go, I thank the hon. Gentleman for rightly raising this important issue and for his interest and engagement in the new hospital programme. I absolutely assure him that we are committed to the delivery of the two schemes at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and I thank all Members who have taken part in the debate.