The LGI site will house a new Children's Hospital. Credit: via Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Airedale included in govt’s Wave 1 hospital plans, LGI delayed to 2032

An updated New Hospital Plan has been published, rejigging timelines for 40 new hospitals that were set to be built or refurbished by 2030 and affecting two in Yorkshire.

In Yorkshire, Airedale General Hospital, which was built in 1970 using unsafe reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, has been included in the list of wave 1 projects.

Construction will start between 2027-28, and an estimated cost of £1-1.5bn has been assigned to the project.

Leeds General Infirmary, however, has been pushed back and will now start construction between 2032-34 with estimated costs of between £1.5-2bn.

The project includes a new adult hospital, a new home for Leeds Children’s Hospital, and the UK’s largest single-site maternity facility.

Redevelopment plans for the LGI site were first revealed in summer 2021, with designs by BDP, at which point the 990,000 sq ft project was estimated at £450m.

The NHP was originally announced in October 2020, and aimed to improve the efficiency of hospital construction through a centralised approach.

Previously, hospitals have been built individually by trusts. The standardised approach intends to improve budget and time issues by encouraging economies of scale, supporting engagement with the construction market, providing a blueprint for hospital designs, and improving productivity.

Following the review by the government, the NHP will now be delivered through consecutive waves of investment.

Each wave will set construction start dates for schemes over a five-year period, and comprise a group of hospitals that will start construction within each wave.

Prof Phil Wood, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals said: “We have been waiting since 2019 to build this new hospital for our patients, staff, and communities in Leeds, Yorkshire, and beyond.

“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.”

Skipton and Ripon MP Sir Julian Smith, said: “I welcome the government’s commitment to rebuilding Airedale General Hospital.

“This is a crucial development for our community, ensuring that we have the healthcare facilities needed to provide high-quality care.”

Wes Streeting, health secretary, said when announcing the new plans: “The NHS is quite literally crumbling. I have visited hospitals where the roof has fallen in, pipes regularly leak and even freeze over in winter.

“As Lord Darzi found in his investigation, the NHS was starved of capital in the 2010s, with £37bn under-investment over the 2010s.

“This lack of investment meant the UK construction sector did not have the appetite and capacity to build the number of concurrent hospitals required to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030 when this promise was made.

“Delivery is dependent on providing certainty to develop relationships and secure investments in the supply chain which would ensure this vital hospital infrastructure is realised.

“This review was launched for two reasons. First, to put the programme on a firm footing with sustainable funding, so all the projects can be delivered. Second, to give patients an honest, realistic, deliverable timetable in which they can have confidence.”

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