Fears rebuild of King's Lynn's QEH could be scaled back or scrapped
It comes as the government looks to cut future spending
Last updated 20th Oct 2022
Fears have been raised that the rebuilding of the country’s most dilapidated hospital could be delayed, scaled back or scrapped, as the government looks to cut its future spending.
The roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King’s Lynn is being held up by some 2,500 props to prevent it from falling down, but the government has yet to commit to a £862m rebuild.
The hospital has been waiting several months to find out whether it will be selected in a government programme to build eight new hospitals in Britain, in addition to the 40 already promised in the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto.
But following former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s botched mini-budget, new chancellor Jeremy Hunt is taking the government in a new direction, focused on fiscal discipline and balancing the books.
Under Mr Kwarteng, government departments were already being tasked with making ‘capital savings’ – reductions in spending on big infrastructure projects – of 10-15pc, but those cuts are now expected to become more severe.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the eight new hospitals programme is still currently set to go ahead, but fears remain over what will be in Mr Hunt’s so-called medium term fiscal plan on October 31.
Alex Stewart, CEO of Healthwatch Norfolk, said his organisation was “extremely concerned at potential budget cuts to both health and social care”.
He said: “Residents and staff are aware of the dilapidated state of, for example, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and Healthwatch consider that it would be a retrograde step if a decision is made to halt any monies being provided for the potential rebuild of the hospital.
“Such an approach in the short term could lead to far more expensive ramifications moving forwards and result in the hospital being unable to continue delivering the services that are currently being provided from the QEH.
“Budgets are being stretched to the limits and further cuts could potentially lead to the withdrawal of certain services if there is neither the finance to provide them, nor the staffing infrastructure to deliver them.
“Healthwatch, along with all stakeholders across health and social care will be watching the budget with interest and concern as to the wider impact any proposed measures might have on the Norfolk and Waveney system.”
Prime minister Liz Truss, whose constituency lies just a few miles from the hospital, told this paper during her summer leadership campaign that she was “very committed” to a new QEH, but since becoming PM, she has resisted offering a firm guarantee on seeing the project through.
In a local radio interview, she instead said that her health secretary Therese Coffey would visit the hospital to see the situation for herself, but a date for that visit has not yet been confirmed.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, the QEH’s local Conservative MP James Wild, urged the government to ensure the hospital is rebuilt.
He pointed out that it is the most propped up hospital in the country and said he had raised its case in a meeting with Ms Truss on Tuesday morning.
He said: “Given the pressing need, and the value for money of this case, I urge the government to confirm the QEH will be one of the new hospital schemes and part of the planned capital investment programme.”
The DHSC spokesman said: “Patient and staff safety is our top priority and we have invested record sums to upgrade NHS buildings and facilities, so that trusts can continue to provide the best possible quality of care.
“This includes allocating £750,000 to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in June 2020 for critical infrastructure repairs.
“We have received an expression of interest for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to become one of the remaining eight new hospital schemes to be announced.
“The selected hospitals will be announced later this year.”
Analysis: Why have fresh doubts been cast over the QEH’s future?
Fresh doubts have been cast on whether the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn will be rebuilt, as the government looks to cut its future spending. NOAH VICKERS explains why
The controversial mini-budget, announced by former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in September, caused economic turmoil in the UK.
It promised a radical range of tax cuts which spooked the financial markets, who were concerned about how the government would pay for them.
Prime minister Liz Truss has since apologised for going “too far and too fast” and sacked Mr Kwarteng, appointing former health secretary Jeremy Hunt in his place.
Mr Hunt has told his cabinet colleagues that government departments will continue to be asked to look at finding ways to save taxpayers’ money, but “this work should focus on areas which would not affect the service the public receives”.
It is understood that capital projects – major infrastructure works which may take some years to come to fruition – are therefore the most vulnerable to any “efficiency savings” Mr Hunt will be looking to make.
Those projects could potentially include the government’s new hospital programme, with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) currently aiming to build 48 new hospitals by 2030.
The department has said the programme is still currently expected to go ahead, but very little has been confirmed at this stage about what will be in the chancellor’s medium term fiscal plan on October 31.
The money available to each hospital project could potentially be trimmed back, so that they become less ambitious.
Investment in cutting-edge medical services in Cambridge, for example, could possibly be used to justify certain services offered at the current QEH not necessarily being budgeted for in a new hospital on the site.