Health secretary 'committed' to new hospital

Wes Streeting said he was "committed to the Princess Alexandra, I really am, but what I can't give you today is the 'when'"

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told the BBC he is "committed to the Princess Alexandra" and building a new NHS hospital in Harlow.

The government has begun a review of the feasibility of new hospital builds, including one in the Essex town.

Streeting told BBC Essex said: "What I can't give you today is the 'when?' and the funding because that is what the review is looking at."

The Conservative shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins said Labour was choosing not to prioritise hospitals.

Sir Keir Starmer on a visit to Princess Alexandra Hospital in 2023 when he was leader of the opposition

Earlier this week, Streeting had written to MPs claiming the previous Conservative government's 2019 election manifesto pledge to build hospitals was "undeliverable and unaffordable".

Speaking to BBC Essex, the minister said he discovered when Labour entered government that "the timetables for the hospital programme were a work of fiction and the money for the programme runs out in March".

He said he was working on "an honest and realistic timetable" to deliver a new hospital for Harlow.

He asked people to "bear with me, give me a chance to get under the bonnet, roll my sleeves up, look at the state of the programme".

Princess Alexandra was one of 40 hospitals pledged by the previous Conservative government to be delivered across the UK by 2030.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in 2019 that Harlow would have a new hospital and it was due to be built by 2024.

Currently no land has been bought for the preferred site near the M11 nor has a planning application been made.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital was originally built in 1963 to serve the Essex New Town and the wider area

The hospital's strategy director Michael Meredith said the Princess Alexandra was "in poor condition... it really does need a complete replacement”.

Built in the New Town in 1963, he added that it was "really hard" to manage and recently had only one in five of the patient lifts working "which has a massive impact on staff".

He added that a hospital theatre was "out of action for nearly two weeks - that means many operations were cancelled".

Mr Meredith said he was "really confident" the hospital "will be completely replaced".

However, it was not expected until 2030-32, with more details expected from the government in the new year.

The shadow health secretary accused Labour of having been "planning to delay and potentially cancel new hospitals since January 2023".

Victoria Atkins MP said in statement: "Wes Streeting has slipped out a letter stating that he may cancel 24 new hospitals.

"He has an enormous budget of £170bn and he has chosen not to prioritise these hospitals."

In January 2023, Sir Keir Starmer, then leader of the opposition, told the BBC Labour would "carry into effect the plans that others have promised" when asked about building a new hospital in the new town.