CEO "thrilled" at news of construction for Women's and Children's Hospital in Milton Keynes

The CEO of Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) say they're "thrilled" that the new Women's and Children's Hospital in the area will be delivered.

The news comes as yesterday Health Secretary Wes Streeting revealed building 40 new hospitals, promised by the previous government, will take at least a decade longer than planned.

A new timetable was set out, with Mr Streeting confirming construction of the new hospitals would proceed in four "waves", with the final part not beginning until between 2035 and 2039.

The first wave is already under construction, and set to be completed in the next three years.

The new Women's and Children's Hospital in Milton Keynes is among those in the first wave, set to see construction take place between 2025 and 2030.

MKUH provides services for Milton Keynes, as well as areas of Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire.

Key strand for future strategy

Speaking after Mr Streeting's announcement in the Commons, Joe Harrison CBE, CEO at MKUH, said: “We are thrilled to receive confirmation that, as part of the Government’s New Hospital Programme, a new Women’s and Children’s Hospital will be delivered as planned for the people of Milton Keynes.

“This addition to our hospital estate is a key strand of our future strategy which has been built around the needs of this fast-growing city. MKUH is now in a position to re-imagine how it sees and treats patients, and to deliver improved patient experience across the board. We are excited to move forward with our plans and would like to thank everyone in Milton Keynes for their ideas and support over recent years.”

The confirmation of the new hospital will enable the introduction of new technology, to create 'smarter' hospital facilities.

MKUH say the New Hospitals Programme has already enabled work improvements beginning at their site, including a new Imaging Centre and an additional multi-storey car park.

Long-term investment for sustainable delivery

Mr Streeting said the new timetable was "honest, funded and can actually be delivered".

He added: "It is a serious, credible plan to build the hospitals our NHS needs."

Promising that all the new units would be delivered, Mr Streeting said he had secured investment averaging £3 billion a year, which he described as part of the largest capital investment in the NHS since the previous Labour government.

He also announced a new framework for contracting out construction of the new hospitals, saying this would ensure the new facilities were delivered "as quickly as possible".

Documents released by the Department for Health and Social Care suggested the programme would not reach the £3 billion per year figure until it had reached a "steady state" in the early 2030s, with the "pre-construction phase" requiring less spending.

The announcement follows a review of the Conservatives' £20 billion New Hospitals Programme, which Mr Streeting launched shortly after taking office in July, claiming the previous government's plans were undeliverable and had not been properly funded.

But shadow health secretary Edward Argar said Mr Streeting had put progress made under the previous government "at risk" by "kicking the can down the road".

He said: "Today's announcement will come as a bitter blow to trusts, staff and crucially patients who believed the party opposite and will now be left waiting even longer for vital investment.

"Yet again, before the election, they talked the talk, but it's patients who lose out when this Government fails to deliver."

The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of trying to "bury bad news" on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration as US president.

Watford General Hospital didn't make it into the first wave, and has to wait for construction to begin until at least 2030.