BBC reports hospital funding to be announced next week

The BBC understands the government will make an announcement on hospital funding in England next week.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in July that hospital, road and rail projects would be reviewed as part of the effort. Address a £22 billion shortfall in public finances,

This includes millions of pounds previously promised to London hospitals, including St Helier Hospital in Sutton.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the government planned to “rebuild our NHS”.

St Helier Hospital was told it would get new buildings as well as upgrades to existing buildings, but staff have said this is yet to happen.

The hospital, which first opened its doors to patients in 1941, has been the subject of funding promises under several governments.

In 2003, Tony Blair’s Labor announced a plan called Better health care closer to home,

In 2010, Tory George Osborne promised £200m Funding of new hospital schemesWhich also includes St. Helier Hospital.

In 2020, the government led by Boris Johnson pledged up to £500m to St Helier in the New Hospitals Programme.

Then in 2023 BBC reported Ministers set a target to have six hospitals ready by 2025 – One which was St Helier, part of the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Dr. Becky Suckling, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said the building had several problems, including windows that did not close properly, which allowed moisture to enter.

He said that last year, more than 600 operations had to be canceled due to ventilation problems in theaters.

Dr Suckling believes the age of the building – which was completed in 1942 – is the root cause of the problems.

Dr Pauline Swift, consultant nephrologist at St Helier Hospital, said the lifts often broke down, causing further distress for patients.

She also said that she had gone to see a patient in the dialysis unit and the windows were boarded up as they came out.

He added, “This is no way to care for patients in the 21st century.”

The DHSC agreed that buildings and equipment in the NHS had been “left to fall apart”, disrupting care and causing distress to staff.

After coming to power, Labor said it would look into the future feasibility of the 25 projects that were part of it. new hospital program In England, as Conservative Boris Johnson promised when he was prime minister.

The DHSC said: “We inherited a new hospital program that was unrealistic and unachievable, with funding due to end in March 2025.

“We are working on a timeline that is affordable and honest.”