Hospital rebuild plans continue despite uncertainty

Parts of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital's roof are supported by wooden and metal props

Plans to rebuild a crumbling hospital by 2030 are "still moving forward", its chief executive has said.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk - where hundreds of wooden and steel posts were put in place to prop up the roof - was earmarked to be rebuilt by the Conservatives.

But Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the scheme was to be reviewed as part of her spending audit.

Alice Webster said: "We do know we have the 2030 deadline and we will be lobbying Health Secretary Wes Streeting to make sure we remain on the list."

Alice Webster said the Queen Elizabeth continued to work with the government's new national hospital team

"We have our plans and they are still moving forward," she said.

"That's the message we've had loud and clear from the new hospital programme team who work for the Department of Health and NHS England."

Demolition work on the hospital's Inspire Centre, to make way for a multi-storey car park, began in June 2023 but progress has been slow.

The Conservatives under Boris Johnson had committed to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030 and, during the general election, Labour said it planned to rebuild the Queen Elizabeth within the same timescale.

Mr Streeting has since said building 40 new hospitals by 2030 was "not deliverable in that time frame".

Ms Webster said: "The chancellor did say she was going to review the hospital list and we have no information to suggest we won't be on that list."

The hospital was built in 1980 using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which has a lifespan of about 30 years

In the meantime, the hospital continues to use props but horizontally in "a very complex operation", she said.

"We lower the ceiling so you hopefully, as a patient, wouldn't see any wooden props or steel actually exposed, you will see a slightly lower ceiling."

The hospital was also modernising facilities where it can, she added.

"We've just opened an area where we've managed to get en suites in the room, which we haven't had before.

"We've still got to live in this building and we owe it to our community to make sure that we give them the best facilities and also to our staff."