Hinchingbrooke joins priority list for Raac rebuild

A hospital ravaged by Raac has been added to the government's priority list for redevelopment - which could begin as soon as 2027.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon is one of four in the East of England severely affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete - or Raac - used in the construction of some of the walls and roof.

The hospital has been included in wave 1 of the government's New Hospitals Programme (NHP).

Hannah Coffey, chief executive of Northwest Anglia Foundation Trust, said: "Our focus remains upon planning a hospital that meets the future needs of our communities in Huntingdonshire and the surrounding areas and creating a hospital environment that is good for our staff, too."

The government has been looking at all the hospital schemes within the NHP and assessing costs, timings and individual need, in order to prioritise each site.

Ms Coffey added: "Safety is and will continue to be our main priority and we are working with NHP to understand what this means for our completion date.

"In the meantime, our estates team have worked incredibly hard to ensure that safety measures have been implemented with additional structural supports and fail-safe installations and additional reviews of the site and work will continue while we build our new hospital.

"The project team continues to work closely with NHP colleagues as we prepare to submit our Strategic Outline Case (SOC) to the New Hospitals Programme, as planned, later this year."

Previously, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, said 40 new hospitals proposed in 2019 by the Conservatives would go ahead - but they would take a decade longer to complete, adding the Tories had not funded the schemes.

It would mean some redevelopment schemes not getting under way until 2039.

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