New hospital build delay 'really disappointing'

One of the South's top health bosses has said she is "really disappointed" construction on a new hospital in Basingstoke will not start for at least another decade.

Hampshire Hospitals are expected to receive at least £2bn of funding as part of the Government's New Hospital programme, but are part of the third wave of the scheme.

It means construction in Basingstoke and a major refurbishment in Winchester is not expected to begin until between 2037 and 2039.

Chief Executive Alex Whitfield said they "were really hoping for better news" and they now need to "regroup and figure out how we survive the next decade".

Announcing the new programme on Monday, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting called it a "credible plan and timeline".

He said the different waves would ensure a "balanced portfolio of hospital schemes at different development stages being delivered now and into the future".

But the leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Dr Paul Harvey, said the new hospital was "critical" and residents "just can't wait that long".

The proposal for Hampshire includes building a new hospital at Basingstoke near junction seven of the M3.

The refurbishments at Winchester would also involve providing specialist and emergency care, including maternity services.

Ms Whitfield explained that the infrastructure at Winchester is "quite old" and the electrics, roof tiles and lifts all needed updating and there are not "many single bedrooms" which would all be part of the scheme.

She told BBC Radio Solent: "It is really disappointing news that the timescale has gone back, and we were really hoping for better news.

"We are pleased that we will still get a hospital but it is a long time in the future now."

She said she understood what the government was trying to do and that investment needed to be in "sensible phases".

But she said it felt like they had been pushed to the end of the queue, which is not "where we would want to be."

She added: "We've put a lot of work into this project, it is not wasted work, it's just a delay and it's not never.

"Now we need to regroup and figure out how we survive the next decade in the buildings as they are and provide brilliant care for our patients."

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