Hospital plan reviewed over 'spiralling costs'

A 16-bed in-patient rehabilitation ward and urgent treatment centre were proposed

Plans for a new community hospital are to be "reviewed" over spiralling costs, it has been revealed.

Planning permission was granted for the Shotley Bridge Hospital in Consett, County Durham, in March 2023 as part of the previous Conservative government's new hospital programme.

But construction work has yet to begin and Health Secretary Wes Streeting has now put the proposals on a list of projects to be reviewed.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it had inherited a new hospital programme which was "undeliverable and unfunded".

Estimated costs for the hospital development have risen to between £50m and £60m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A 16-bed in-patient rehabilitation ward and urgent treatment centre were proposed to replace the current facility in Shotley Bridge.

Streeting said the government wanted to complete the hospital programme but that it needed to be put on a "sustainable footing".

The DHSC said: "Our review will provide a thorough, costed and realistic timeline for delivery of the rest of the programme to ensure we can replace the crumbling hospital estate in England."

Blaydon and Consett MP Liz Twiss said she was "frustrated" by the delay.

"Consett desperately needs a new hospital," she said.

"But we also need honesty about how a new hospital will be funded and when we can expect it to be completed."

Liberal Democracy councillor Dominic Haney said he feared the hospital would never be built.

The County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has been approached for comment.