James Wild MP has called on the government to speed up the rebuild of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).
While welcoming confirmation of the £1-1.5 billion in funding available for the new hospital, James has said the government’s plans to delay the opening date from 2030 to 2032/3 are unnecessary and costly, as millions more will be spent on temporary repairs.
He stressed that the QEH Trust has well-developed plans and an experienced team ready to move forward, but ongoing delays in approvals only increase the financial burden.
He called for the swift approval of enabling works, including a new multi-storey car park, to allow work to begin next year at the latest.
James also reiterated the importance of streamlining the approval process to ensure patients, staff, and the community get the modern, safe healthcare facilities they urgently need.
James Wild MP said:
“My local hospital, the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King’s Lynn, is one of the seven RAAC hospitals. I have campaigned for a new hospital since I was first elected in 2019. The QEH has had the dubious honour of being the most propped hospital in the country. Today, steel and timber supports hold up the roof to keep the hospital safe. Staff and patients should not have to put up with that.
“Initially, QEH was not part of the new hospital programme, but through campaigning in Parliament and strong local support, it was added to the scheme as a priority by the last Conservative government—part of a fully funded scheme that is being funded in the same way as this programme: through future spending reviews. After the election, this government’s review of the new hospital programme cast doubt on our new hospital, but I am glad that, after pressure, RAAC schemes were removed from that review and restored as the priorities they should be. That was warmly welcomed by patients, staff and my constituents.
“The clock is ticking, however, and the government’s decision to delay the timetable for a new hospital opening from 2030 to 2032-33 is unwelcome and, I would argue, unnecessary. It also means spending money propping up the roof, wasting millions of pounds that could be spent getting on with the new scheme. The trust has well-developed plans and an experienced team in place. The Health Secretary has said that if we can go faster than the 2027-28 start date for construction, he will pursue that. When I went with the Minister to the hospital trust, she repeated that commitment, which I welcomed.
“There are concerns that the NHS England reorganisation could cause issues with approvals, but the Health Secretary told me in the House that we would use it to take an axe to the multi-layered approvals process. I am not sure that he has swung it yet, but I hope he does, because the savings in business cases, consultant costs, other costs and time are considerable.
“There has been much talk across the House of the need for action. I was at QEH last week with the chief executive. My ask is that the business case for the multi-storey car park is approved as rapidly as possible, so that work can start next year at the latest. That is the key enabling scheme to free up the existing car park so that we can get on and build the new QEH. The recent confirmation of the available funding was welcome and I thank the Minister—it will be a major investment in my constituency. Let us now get on with the new QEH that the staff, patients and the community it serves across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire deserve.”
