Hospital rebuild can proceed despite spending review

Frimley Park Hospital was found to have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac)

Plans to rebuild Frimley Park Hospital will go ahead despite the new government's plans to review major NHS spending projects.

The hospital in Surrey was built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) and had been earmarked for a complete rebuild under the previous government's New Hospitals Programme.

However, the government plans to review all NHS building projects as part of measures to save £22bn from the public’s finances.

On Friday, the Department of Health and Social Care said the Frimley Park project would not be included in the review.

Caroline Hutton, deputy chief executive for the NHS trust and senior responsible officer for the new Frimley Park Hospital, said the trust was "delighted" with the green light being given to move forward with plans.

She added: "We are being actively supported by the national new hospital programme to maintain progress to ensure the new hospital will be open as soon as possible."

Describing it as an "exciting, once-in-a-generation opportunity" to transform the future of the hospital, she pledged to keep the community informed and engaged over the coming weeks and months.

Surrey Heath MP Al Pinkerton said: "This confirmation will come as highly reassuring news to staff and patients, and bring an end to the unfortunate, unnecessary and unhelpful speculation about the hospital's future.

He said his next step was "to advocate for keeping the new Frimley Park within Surrey Heath" on an appropriate site or sites.

Roy Lilley, a health analyst and former NHS chief executive, told BBC Radio Surrey Frimley Park was a "popular, well-run hospital" and would now have "some assurance for the future".

But he added that hospitals with Raac in them were "in danger of falling down".

"They're already collapsing," he said. "They've got ceilings propped up and it's dangerous for the patients and staff."

'Realistic timeline'

The Local Democracy Reporting Service previously reported that Frimley Park has about 7,000 Raac planks in key areas such as operating theatres, intensive care units, wards and corridors.

The review was announced in July by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in order to plug a £22bn hole in public finances.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said the government wanted to "be honest with patients" and "put the programme on a sustainable footing".

He added: "We are reassessing the rest of the programme to ensure every scheme has clear evidence of how it will be funded alongside a realistic timeline for delivery."