Hospital decision 'expected before autumn budget'

Royal Berkshire Hospital was set to be rebuilt or relocated as part of the new hospitals programme

A decision over the future of a town's largest hospital is expected by the autumn budget, NHS bosses have said.

Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading was set to be rebuilt or relocated as part of the new hospitals programme, which promised the delivery of 40 new hospitals by 2030.

But the project was put at risk after the new Labour government announced a review to address a £22bn black hole in its finances.

Director of strategy at Royal Berkshire NHS Andrew Statham said they were considering a "range of options".

Some wards on the hospital are more than 175 years old, and restoring the current site was estimated to cost £200m.

Delivering a new hospital would cost about £1.26m.

Thames Valley Park and Thames Valley Science Park, both within the Wokingham Borough, have been identified as potential sites for the move.

Some parts of the hospital are more than 175 years old

At a meeting of the Wokingham Borough Wellbeing board, Mr Statham said: "The review is considering a whole range of options, from a much narrowed down programme, but also looking for different ways to secure the funding to be able to do the whole programme."

He said they were "expecting conclusions in line with October's budget".

"In the meantime, we're progressing with things that we had already in train," he said.

"We're coming to the end of a period of engagement we had on potential different sites."

Councillor Prue Bray asked Mr Statham about staff morale at the hospital, amid financial challenges and the review of the new hospitals programme.

Mr Statham said it was "a really challenging time" to work in the NHS.

"It has been for a number of years," he said.

"We're not immune to staff being under that kind of pressure, we're working really hard to support them."