Leeds hospital bosses "extremely disappointed" work on replacement for LGI won't start until 2030
There's going to be a delay to the planned upgrade at Leeds General Infirmary - which includes a new home for the Leeds Children's Hospital
Hospital bosses in Leeds say they are 'extremely disappointed' that work on a state-of-the-art replacement for the LGI won't begin until 2030 at the earliest.
This is after the Labour government gave an update on the New Hospital Programme launched by the Tories yesterday, setting out what they call a 'realistic timeline' which has seen the start date for many of the projects pushed back.
An upgrade to Leeds General Infirmary, including a new home for the Leeds Children's Hospital, in in 'Wave Two' of the scheme, with an estimated delivery date of between 2030 and 2035.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting vowed to "put the programme on a firm footing with sustainable funding so all the projects can be delivered".
He also told the Commons the Government would "give patients an honest, realistic, deliverable timetable that they can believe in".
Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals said:
“We are extremely disappointed to hear that we will be unable to start construction on the new hospital at Leeds General Infirmary until at least 2030."
"We have been waiting since 2019 to build this new hospital for our patients, staff and communities in Leeds, Yorkshire and beyond.
"We will continue to work with the New Hospital Programme, to understand the detail of this announcement and what this means for our plans.
"We also need to understand the impact this delay will have on our hospital services and our ageing estate, which has one of the highest backlog maintenance requirements in the NHS.
“For some time now, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has had advanced and well-developed plans for a new hospital at Leeds General Infirmary.
"We have a cleared construction site, made considerable progress with our preparatory works and have been working towards securing more detailed planning consent, following the outline planning consent which was secured in 2020.”
The first wave of schemes will see hospitals with RAAC concrete used during construction replaced.
Work to replace the Airedale General Hospital will start sometime between this year and 2030.