Nottingham hospitals' rebuild delayed beyond 2030, government confirms

Plans have been drawn up to rebuild both the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital

Plans to rebuild Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) and City Hospital have been delayed, the government has confirmed.

Both sites were included in a Conservative government pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 and plans had been drawn up for major redevelopments.

However the government said, on Thursday, neither project will now be finished before the end of the decade.

City health bosses said they were looking to understand the implications.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it was still committed to the long term building of 40 new hospitals but eight projects, including Nottingham's redevelopments, had been delayed because hospitals elsewhere in the country were "at risk of collapse" and needed to take priority.

It said the rising cost of construction had also been a factor in the delay to parts of its New Hospital Programme (NHP).

Local health bosses say they are still working on business cases for the projects

In a joint statement Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board said it welcomed the "continued commitment" to the NHP.

However it added: "We will be working with the NHP team over the next few weeks to understand what this announcement will mean for Tomorrow's NUH (TNUH) timescales.

"We continue to plan for a public consultation to consult on the TNUH programme proposals.

"After this is completed, outline and full business cases will be developed, which will include the delivery of the enabling works for the programme."

NUH previously described the redevelopment as a "once in a lifetime opportunity to completely rethink how and where services were provided across the city".

Nottingham South Labour MP Lilian Greenwood said: "It's a pretty disgraceful state of affairs that after 13 years the NHS estate has been allowed to crumble to such a degree that they are now being told patient safety is at risk.

"And that they absolutely have to rebuild these hospitals by 2030 because they are not going to be safe to operate beyond then."

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said work would would begin on a new surgical hub and three new operating theatres in Nottingham as part of the wider redesign - taking forward the Ockenden maternity review recommendations.

The DHSC did confirm funding for a 70-bed NHS national rehabilitation centre near Loughborough will still go ahead.

It will be run by NUH and will share some facilities with the existing defence medical rehabilitation centre at Stanford Hall which supports ill and injured service personnel.

It was also confirmed that hospital projects in Leicester are on course to go ahead, major redevelopments are planned at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Glenfield Hospital and plans also include a dedicated treatment centre for the city.

The government announcement also included plans for three new mental health facilities, including one in Derbyshire.