HSJ reports that nearly two thirds of NHS trusts in England have submitted bids to the government’s ‘massively oversubscribed’ hospital building programme. Sources told HSJ a total of 128 “expressions of interest” had been submitted by trusts hoping to be part of the final cohort of the government’s New Hospitals programme.
Of the 128 bids submitted, only eight will be selected to receive the large sums required to fund the building project they believe is needed, often amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds. These will make up the final projects of the 48 that government has promised will be delivered by 2030.
The remaining 120 developments that local trusts (of which there are about 210 in England) have said are needed will be rejected and go unbuilt.
Building programmes are badly needed across England with NHS’s backlog maintenance bill standing at nearly £10bn, of which £1.6bn is needed to tackle “high-risk” estate. The number of disruptions to patient care due to poor estate is also at record levels, according to figures held by NHS Digital.
Full story in the HSJ, 31 January 2022