High-risk hospitals delayed despite government assurances

The government previously said replacement of the seven “RAAC” or reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete hospitals would “proceed at pace due to the substantive safety risks” and “exempted” them from its review of the new hospitals programme.

The hospitals were all previously slated to be replaced by 2030, and a government-commissioned report said beyond that date their RAAC structures will pose a fundamental safety threat to patients and staff.

Although these schemes were theoretically exempt from the review, its report on Monday gave them new dates to begin construction. Six are slated for 2027-28 and one, Frimley Park, won’t start until 2028-29.

Off the back of this, it has been confirmed for the first time that two schemes won’t be complete by 2030, while others also look doubtful.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn Foundation Trust said it had not had a date confirmed by the NHP but admitted: “The timescales in this plan indicate our new hospital will not meet the previous deadline of 2030.” Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting told the Commons its rebuild would not be completed until 2032-33, although he added: “If we can go faster, we can.”

James Paget University Hospitals FT told HSJ its new hospital would now not be “operationally ready” – ie open – until 2031, although it believed construction would be complete by 2030.

Four of the other RAAC trusts — North West Anglia, Airedale, Mid Cheshire Hospitals and Frimley Health — all declined to confirm if they will be open by 2030. Anglia, Airedale and Mid Cheshire said they were still working with the national team to understand their timetable. 

Of the seven, only West Suffolk FT said it was still targeting a 2030 opening. 

Mr Streeting also declined to confirm this date when asked by local MPs when RAAC schemes would open in Parliament on Monday.

He has said the review into the NHP, which has confirmed significant delays to other schemes, has created an “honest” timeline for the programme initially set up to build 40 “new hospitals” by 2030.

HSJ understands leaders at the NHP still believe the RAAC hospitals will mostly be completed by 2030 because they will be prioritised.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the previous government did not have confirmed funding for NHP, and the schemes were unlikely to have been delivered without this. It said the new timeline was a realistic plan with a clear approach to funding.