Town's new MP pledges to get hospital rebuilt

Rosie Wrighting MP met patients and staff at Kettering General Hospital

A town's new MP says she is determined to get its hospital rebuilt after "five years of mismanagement" of the project.

Labour's Rosie Wrighting made her first constituency visit as MP to Kettering General Hospital, where most of the site is due to be rebuilt over the next few years.

Ms Wrighting said both she and the health secretary, Wes Streeting, were "committed" to getting the project completed.

Patients have told the BBC the building desperately needs updating.

The rebuild will involve most of the site and is due to be completed by 2030

The rebuild of Kettering General Hospital was one of the 40 "new" hospital schemes announced by the last government in 2020.

The government allocated £315m to fund the hospital works, on top of £49m for a new A&E department.

Concerns have been voiced about the progress of the work and Kettering's former Conservative MP Philip Hollobone raised the issue in the House of Commons several times.

Work started earlier this year on an electrically-powered energy centre to serve the new building, but construction of the replacement building is not likely to start until 2026.

Boilers at the hospital are due to be replaced by an electric energy centre

Ms Wrighting, elected as the Labour MP for Kettering last week, said she had chosen the hospital as her first visit.

She added: "We've had a tour round today and it's given me a really good insight into the needs of the hospital.

"During the [election] campaign, I spoke with Wes Streeting and the health team, and that is a commitment we have made - to get the redevelopment of Kettering General done."

She added that the new hospital programme had been "mismanaged over the last five years - promises have been made and they haven't been delivered and this is an opportunity now for me to be the MP that gets this done".

Victoria Gourley said the hospital is old and needs a lot of work

Victoria Gourley, 41, a user of the hospital, told the BBC: "It needs a lot of work doing - it is old, it needs everything.

"It's too hot, there's no air con, it's in the same condition it was in the eighties."

Jill Henderson said a rebuild was "desperately" needed

Another patient, Jill Henderson, said a rebuild was "desperately, badly" needed.

The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.