Ageing hospital to be rebuilt by 2030

Plans have been in place since 2019 for a new Princess Alexandra Hospital to be rebuilt

An "ageing hospital" will be completely rebuilt as part of a £20bn government pledge.

A new state-of-art Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Harlow, Essex, is among 40 new hospitals to be built as part of the New Hospital Programme.

It will be a "world-class facility for the local area", The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) said.

In the past, it had been hoped the facility would be open by 2024, but the date has been moved back several times.

It is set to be open by 2030. Plans have been in place for a rebuild since 2019.

The announcement was made by Health Secretary Steven Barclay on Thursday.

Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP for Harlow, said: "It was a wonderful moment for me today, I was sitting next to the health secretary as he made his statement and I've asked over 45 questions in the House of Commons on this, I've had five parliamentary debates.

"We've had six health ministers and a former prime minister visit Princess Alexandra Hospital and we've had dozens and dozens of meetings with government ministers about this over the years.

"To get it confirmed, the funding confirmed, and the timetable - is really good news."

The trust said it was moving ahead "with the purchase of the land", which is set to be in Sheering, about five miles (8km) away from the current site.

'World class'

Trust chair Hattie Llewelyn-Davies, and Lance McCarthy, the chief executive, said in a joint statement that "many years of hard work and preparation have paid off".

They added: "We are confident in the huge benefits this approach will bring for our people, our patients and the many communities in Harlow and the surrounding areas."

"We now know with certainty that we will get the world-class healthcare facility our people deserve to work in."

They said the trust was continuing "to tackle the problems of our ageing hospital estate" and there was "still a long way to go".