Over £200 million for 10 major projects, including new operating theatres, children’s wards and improved maternity and mental health facilities.
1.3 billion for maintenance, safety and resilience projects across the NHS estate, including £32 million for specific projects that are improving cooling and ventilation systems and strengthening hospitals’ resilience to extreme heat.
Investment will help hospitals prepare for winter and extreme weather, and protect capacity to help alleviate pressures on the health sector
Patients across England will benefit from safer and more resilient NHS hospitals thanks to over £1.5 billion of investment to tackle urgent problems with hospital buildings and facilities.
Over £200 million will fund 10 major hospital projects, while over £1.3 billion will go towards maintenance, safety and resilience improvements.
The investment comes as the NHS adapts to increasing year-round pressures. For decades, hospitals have focused on preparing for winter demand, but periods of extreme heat and sustained pressure on services mean the NHS must be equipped for new challenges. This investment will help hospitals remain safe, open and able to care for patients throughout the year.
The government has announced that this will include more than £200 million for 10 major projects across the country, helping patients receive care in safer, better-equipped facilities.
The investment will fund improvements including new operating theatres, a new ward for children, safer maternity and mental health facilities and improvements to protect vital services that help doctors diagnose and treat patients.
Alongside action being taken to improve urgent and emergency care, the investment will also strengthen the long-term resilience of NHS services by addressing ageing infrastructure and critical safety risks across the estate. It will help hospitals cope with changing patterns of demand while maintaining safe, high-quality care for patients.
The investment will also support wider efforts to improve patient flow through hospitals complementing ongoing work with community and social care services to help patients receive the right care in the right place and leave hospital safely when they are ready.
It is part of a wider programme of more than 950 projects across the NHS, targeting the hospitals and facilities most in need of investment and helping them stay safe and open for patients, including during periods of high pressure over winter.
Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said:
For decades, hospitals have focused on preparing for winter pressures, but the NHS is now facing new challenges, including periods of extreme heat and sustained pressure on services throughout the year. That’s why we are investing more than £1.5 billion to make our NHS hospitals safer and more resilient, helping them remain open and able to care for patients when pressure on services is greatest. This includes investment in cooling and ventilation systems to help hospitals adapt to more frequent periods of extreme heat, alongside hundreds of projects to tackle urgent safety and infrastructure risks across the NHS estate. This is just the start. Through our 10 Year Capital Plan, we will continue investing in the NHS buildings and facilities staff and patients need, helping build a health service that is fit for the future.
For decades, hospitals have focused on preparing for winter pressures, but the NHS is now facing new challenges, including periods of extreme heat and sustained pressure on services throughout the year.
That’s why we are investing more than £1.5 billion to make our NHS hospitals safer and more resilient, helping them remain open and able to care for patients when pressure on services is greatest.
This includes investment in cooling and ventilation systems to help hospitals adapt to more frequent periods of extreme heat, alongside hundreds of projects to tackle urgent safety and infrastructure risks across the NHS estate.
This is just the start. Through our 10 Year Capital Plan, we will continue investing in the NHS buildings and facilities staff and patients need, helping build a health service that is fit for the future.
The over £200 million investment will deliver major improvements for patients across England, including:
Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport – £26 million: a new pathology building will protect the testing services doctors rely on to diagnose patients and provide urgent care.
Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol – £41 million: improvements to operating theatres will make the facilities safer and more reliable for patients needing surgery.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead – £12 million: redevelopment of maternity facilities will provide a better environment for women receiving care.