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Question mark hangs over New Hospital Programme which includes plans for replacement West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds




A question mark hangs over the future of the New Hospital Programme which includes plans to build a replacement West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly set to announce cuts worth billions of pounds to cover a black hole in the public finances.

She will address Parliament later this afternoon and is reportedly set to scrap or cut back infrastructure projects.

West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Phil Fuller
West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Phil Fuller

Projects that could be paused or cancelled include the New Hospital Programme (NHP), a Conservative Government pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.

The programme included a new West Suffolk Hospital for Bury St Edmunds.

The new-build, earmarked for the Hardwick Manor site, is needed as the current hospital was built in the 1970s and has structural defects associated with RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) used in its roof and walls.

West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds
West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds

In May 2023, it was confirmed seven new schemes, predominantly those hospitals constructed from RAAC, would be ‘prioritised’, with West Suffolk among them.

The Chancellor’s announcement

Rachel Reeves will announce ‘very tough decisions’ to address a public spending black hole of around £20 billion – but no tax rises should be expected.

Ms Reeves will lay out the spending inheritance left by the previous Government – and announce the date of her first autumn Budget – as she pledges to ‘restore economic stability’.

West Suffolk Hospital and Hardwick Manor in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Will Finch/West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
West Suffolk Hospital and Hardwick Manor in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Will Finch/West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

In the House of Commons, she will say that a Treasury spending audit she commissioned shows that the previous Government overspent this year’s budgets by billions of pounds after making a series of unfunded promises.

She will also accuse the previous Conservative administration of ‘covering up the true state of the public finances’, while cuts and delays to major infrastructure projects are expected.

The Government’s position last week

Last week, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he had ordered a review into the funding and timetable for the Conservatives’ £20 billion NHP.

He said said it was ‘painfully clear’ it would not be possible to deliver those hospitals in the timeframe.

“I want to see the new hospital programme completed, but I am not prepared to offer people false hope about how soon they will benefit from the facilities they deserve,” Mr Streeting said.

“That is why I have asked officials as a matter of urgency to report to me on the degree to which the programme is funded along with a realistic timetable for delivery.

“We will not play fast and loose with the public finances, nor will we play fast and loose with people’s trust as the previous Government did.”

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

Papers to the trust’s board on Friday said the West Suffolk Hospital project remained a priority and was the most advanced of the RAAC projects.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) is the only RAAC trust to have its strategic case agreed, to have received funding for the development for its outline business case and for enabling works which support full planning permission and the ability to start construction.

A report said: “Whilst we have received our NHP letter confirming our next steps the confirmation of capital budgets was delayed due to the General Election.

“To mitigate the risk of producing designs deemed unaffordable, the team have been working closely with colleagues from the New Hospital Programme.

“We have received and completed the template aimed at establishing a baseline for progressing the development of an Outline Business Case (OBC).

“We expect comment / confirmation of areas for future focus by the end of July.”

It said the trust had received confirmation of funding for the next stage of its design process.

The board would soon be asked to formally agree the framework and process through which the NHP would procure construction partners which would build the 40 new hospitals as well as the terms describing how the trust would interact with the NHP and its allocated construction partner.

Meanwhile, a new temporary access road has been completed, which will connect the old hospital site in Hardwick Lane with the Hardwick Manor development site.

It said: “As a RAAC trust we (NHP, trust, NHS England) are all focussed on delivering a new hospital by the end of 2030.

“This remains a challenging deadline and does not allow for any abortive effort. Consequently, the early engagement of building contractors in the design process is seen as essential.”

It added: “The overall status of the project plan remains ‘green’ with the most significant risks stemming from delays resulting from the transition of Government and insufficient capital necessitating re-design and compromise. At the time of writing both are considered of low likelihood.”