Somerset MPs 'disappointed' with no funding for Musgrove Park Hospital
The Government won't be giving cash for urgent repairs
Somerset MPs have expressed their disappointment after the government declined to fund urgent repairs at one of the county’s main hospitals.
Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton was part of the Conservatives’ new hospitals programme, which pledged to deliver “40 new hospitals” by 2030.
A review carried out after the general election concluded that many of these new or rebuilt hospitals were “behind schedule, unfunded and therefore undeliverable” – forcing many of the projects to be postponed.
Health secretary Wes Streeting MP announced in January that Musgrove’s outstanding upgrades would now be pushed back until 2033 – with the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust confirming in early-March that its planned second multi-storey car park was also indefinitely on hold.
Two of the county’s Liberal Democrat MPs have now slammed the government for not providing funding for urgent repairs until these projects could resume, arguing it will put staff and patients at risk.
A opposition debate on the future of England’s hospitals was held in the House of Commons on Wednesday (April 23rd), with Lib Dem health and social care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP leading the charge against both the current and previous governments.
Taunton and Wellington MP Gideon Amos – whose constituency includes Musgrove – said that it was “completely unacceptable” to delay large-scale improvements to the facility without providing any short-term support.
He said: “In Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, staff are fainting in temperatures of 30 degrees in temporary buildings where there is no cooling machinery, while mums are trying to give birth in the same ward.
“That is completely unacceptable. We need interim funding if the hospital is to survive until 2033, when the promised funding is meant to arrive.”
Glastonbury and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke added: “A former nurse with 40 years’ experience in the NHS recently contacted me.
“She took her husband, who has complex needs, into hospital, as he had a hand infection, and they were forced to wait for over 12 hours in a tiny cubicle with no ventilation.
“It pained me to hear that story. She worked so hard for the NHS, which she felt was down on its knees.
“This is a damning indictment of the state of our hospitals, and that we urgently need to pursue a major ten-year capital investment programme to get them back up to speed.”
Karin Smith MP, Labour Government minister for secondary care, said: “Nowhere is it more apparent that the NHS is broken than in our crumbling hospitals.
“Over 14 years, the NHS was starved of capital and the capital budget was repeatedly raided to plug the holes in day-to-day spending.
“We broadly agree with the Lib Dems on the disgrace that the backlog of repairs, the decades-long cannibalisation of capital budgets and the unfunded fantasy of the new hospital programme had become. Where we disagree is on the cause and the solution.”
Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves MP provided £750m of “targeted estate safety funding” in her October 2024 budget, with a further £440m being allocated for urgent repairs in hospitals which were built out of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
The Lib Dems’ motion was ultimately defeated by 77 votes to 307 – with Ms Dyke reacting with anger following the vote.
She said: “This vote was an opportunity to push ministers into immediate action to fix our crumbling hospitals. It’s incredibly disappointing that the government chose to ignore the urgent pleas from our communities.
“Local NHS staff and patients deserve far better than unsafe, dilapidated hospital buildings.
“I will continue fighting for the urgent investment our hospitals need. I pressed the previous government to deliver on its promised funds for the redevelopment of Musgrove and will continue to demand this government makes good on its promises too.
“The Conservatives left the NHS in a desperate state after years of underfunding, but this government must now act to ensure safe, reliable healthcare for everyone in Glastonbury and Somerton.”