Building a new hospital on the Queen Elizabeth hospital site in Kings Lynn is hugely important locally given the damage to the concrete of the existing building which currently requires steel props for support.
Following an engineering report which showed concerns with the current building, as Secretary of State for Health I announced in the House of Commons in May 2023 that a new hospital would be built in Kings Lynn. This was confirmed with the Treasury and with senior health officials that funding would be prioritised within the NHS to do so. As a result the building team at Kings Lynn have been working on their plans and were due to start constructing the new hospital next year, the Labour Government is now causing huge anxiety and confusion over when building work will start.
By saying it needs a further engineering study before any construction can begin. Labour Ministers have not said why another report is needed, how many months the report will take, or how long it will be before construction work begins. Yet, as any patient who has visited Kings Lynn hospital knows, this work needs to be done as a priority.
The Conservative government made a clear commitment to rebuild both Hinchingbrooke Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn by 2030. We already have a report stating that this work is essential, and patients can see for themselves when they visit the hospital. We do not need another report. At the General Election Labour candidates promised they would keep my funding priority in place for the new hospitals at Kings Lynn and Huntingdon by 2030.
There is no excuse not to proceed with the original timeline, nor is there any excuse for the silence from the Labour Mayor of Cambridgeshire and local Labour MPs on this delay.
