New hospital could be built in five years, boss says

A potential move for the hospital has been mooted for years

Replacing a hospital on a new site could be nearly three times quicker than renovating the current one, its boss has said.

A potential move for the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) in Reading has been mooted for years but will not receive money by 2030 as previously hoped.

Steve McManus, Royal Berkshire NHS Trust's chief executive, said an entirely new hospital could take five years but refurbishing it could take 14 years.

It is looking at two potential sites for the new hospital.

He told the BBC the trust was "working hard and really constructively" with government officials over what funding it will need for either building programme.

But the interim director for public health for Berkshire West said he worried a new replacement risks becoming a "white elephant" that could rapidly age.

John Ashton said a deeper conversation should be had about what type of health system might be needed in coming decades.

He told a recent Health and Wellbeing Board meeting that he was "not alone" in his concerns.

'Don't hold your breath'

Patrick O'Hagan, BBC Berkshire political reporter

In 2016 the then health secretary Matt Hancock said the RBH would be one of 40 hospitals the government was going to rebuild.

Months turned into years with the government insisting it would build a new hospital in Reading without really nailing down what that meant.

Meanwhile, the RBH had worked out that the rebuild on the current site would cost £850m with a shiny new hospital on another site entirely coming in at about £1.1bn.

Finally last year the government revealed work on the hospitals it had promised back in 2016 to build would be open by 2030.

The RBH lost out to other hospitals which were suffering from concrete cancer which meant some of their wards had been shut to keep people safe.

With the 2030 deadline having been and gone all eyes are now on when the RBH will get the money for its new hospital. Don't hold your breath.