Patient safety at risk as Tories’ ‘40 hospitals’ project mired in delays
Campaigners slam pledge as a ‘scam’ while Trust leaders say costs have spiralled by 25 per cent
THE Tories’ faltering pledge to build more hospitals is a “scam” designed to make it look as if the government is committed to investing in health services, campaigners charged today.
The government promised 40 new hospitals in England by 2030 under Boris Johnson’s leadership in 2019.
The scheme sparked criticism after it transpired that not all of them would be new but included refurbishments and extensions.
Five years later, NHS trust leaders are voicing their frustration as the New Hospital Programme (NHP) continues to be mired in delays.
They say that patients are increasingly at risk in crumbling buildings, with out-of-date equipment that is hampering care.
Some trusts are being forced to cough up £1 million a month from already stretched budgets, to cover on-hold building projects and the bill for having to patch up dilapidated sites, says NHS Providers, a membership organisation for NHS trusts.
…