Cash boost for South West hospitals

Hospitals across the South West have been given money for vital repairs

Hospitals in Devon and Cornwall have been given more than £22m for vital repairs, the Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed.

It comes as part of the £750m announced for the NHS in England in the autumn budget.

Devon's hospitals have been given more than £15m for improvements, while Cornish hospitals will benefit from more than £8m.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government was "on a mission" to rebuild the NHS through investment and modernisation.

Funding breakdown

Among the hospitals receiving funding were three of the largest in both counties - the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) in Exeter, Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, and the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

Derriford Hospital has been given £1,815,000 for improvements to ventilation equipment in the neonatal unit.

Ashley Dalton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, during a visit to Derriford Hospital, said the new system would improve environmental conditions for babies receiving specialist care.

Elsewhere in Devon, RD&E and North Devon District Hospital, managed by the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, have been jointly allocated £5,412,000 for improvements to ventilation systems, and fire safety works.

Various healthcare units, managed by the Devon Partnership NHS Trust, have been given £300,000 for improvements to energy systems.

In Cornwall, the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro has been given £4,379,000 for improvements to energy, electrical, and water systems.

The Department for Health and Social Care also announced £3.9m for Bodmin Hospital, to improve fire safety.

'Crumbling'

The Department of Health and Social Care said fixing the "backlog of maintenance" at NHS hospitals would help to prevent cancellations.

It said services were disrupted more than 4,000 times across England in 2023 and 2024 due to issues with poor quality buildings.

Mr Streeting said: "A decade and a half of underinvestment left hospitals crumbling, with burst pipes flooding emergency departments, faulty electrical systems shutting down operating theatres, and mothers giving birth in outdated facilities that lack basic dignity."

He said patients and staff deserved to be in buildings which were "safe, comfortable, and fit for purpose."