6 things to know about our huge hospital building programme

We want to make sure that the NHS is delivering for patients across England. So at the beginning of Conservative Party Conference, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has launched the biggest hospital building programme in a generation to provide the vital care people need.

What we've announced:

As part of the new Health Infrastructure Plan, 40 new hospitals will be built across England over the next decade, along with dozens of hospital upgrades and a fund to improve critical infrastructure.

As part of the biggest programme of hospital building in a generation, we will spend £13 billion to build these hospitals to the highest quality.

What this means for the NHS:

The package also includes £900m to deliver major improvements in health tech, and £200 million to replace MRI, CT scanners and breast cancer screening equipment, so that no scanner in the NHS is more than 10 years old.

Six hospital builds are getting the full go-ahead now, and a further thirty four new build projects are receiving seed funding to kick start their schemes. There will also be an open competition for future rounds, so local areas can bid to be part of the programme.

Which hospitals are getting the support:

The six hospitals getting the full go-ahead now are: Whipps Cross Hospital, Epsom and St Helier Trust, West Hertfordshire Trust, Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester Trust, and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.

This is on the back of our £1.8 billion cash injection:

This is all on top of our £1.8 billion cash injection announced earlier this month to upgrade 20 hospitals and boost frontline services.

This will make a real difference to the lives of doctors, nurses, and above all, patients.

Boris Johnson said “The NHS is always there for us – free at the point of use for everyone in the country. With our doctors and nurses working tirelessly day in day out, this treasured institution truly showcases the very best of Britain”.

These extra investments into the NHS demonstrates that we’ll also always be there for the NHS.

What the Health Infrastructure Plan entails:

Over the next five year, our Conservative NHS policy will include:

• 6 new hospital projects across the country.
• A short-term fund to help the NHS eradicate critical patient safety risk.
• £900m to help the UK to better harness our health data.
• £200 million to replace 170 MRI/CT scanners or breast cancer screening equipment to ensure no scanner is more than 10 years old.
• A further round of hospital upgrades where most needed.

What Boris Johnson said when announcing this extra funding:

“When I became Prime Minister, I promised to make sure that money for the NHS gets directly to the front line, so that patients consistently receive world-class care and NHS staff have the resources they need to provide this incredible service day in, day out.

“We’re already delivering on this, upgrading hospitals across the country. And today we’re investing more money to support our NHS. We’re providing additional funding for 40 new hospitals to be built over the next decade. This will transform our NHS for millions of patients and hard-working staff.

“I’ve spent the past two months visiting hospitals across the country, and I’ve seen first-hand the need to invest in our hospitals

“We need to get Brexit done by October 31 so we can focus on investing in our NHS, providing more resources for staff and world-leading care for patients.”

What others said after the announcement:

And the IFS says that the Conservatives have put ‘far more’ into the NHS than was promised by Labour.

Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, said: ‘The current government has actually been far more generous in terms of what it is spending on the health service than was projected by Labour – back in 2017,they were putting very little money into health and the current government has put far more than was promised by Labour.’

Labour’s Brexit chaos means they’re offering much less to the NHS:

Labour’s Brexit chaos means they have nothing to offer the NHS.

Only the Conservatives can get Brexit done so we can start dealing with the people’s priorities. Labour will offer nothing except more dither and delay, more chaotic renegotiations, and ultimately no resolution.

And as a result, they can’t take advantage of the opportunities we will have from leaving the European Union.

That’s why Labour continue to offer less money for the NHS than the Conservatives. In their manifesto in 2017, Labour committed 2.2% more a year during this Parliament. Our new budget settlement provides substantially more, at 3.4% a year.

By getting Brexit done and leaving the EU by 31 October, we will be able to focus on the people’s priorities and provide a Conservative NHS policy that will truly make our NHS the envy of the world.