Health Secretary John Reid has given the go ahead for 15 new NHS hospital developments worth more than £4 billion.
The announcement will bring investment in new NHS hospitals to more than £16 billion since 1997. The NHS is already well on course to meet the NHS Plan target of 100 new hospital schemes open to patients by 2010. More than 40 are already built and operational.
These new hospital developments announced today will be funded largely through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). It will now be for local health organisations to progress these schemes to the next stages of development.
The new developments include plans for:
- New mental health facilities for Leicestershire, Merseyside, and Teesside
- A new cardiac research institute and upgraded cardiac wing for Great Ormond Street Hospital
- Modern new buildings for Papworth Hospital's world class cardiothoracic services
John Reid said:
“The NHS is in the middle of the biggest hospital building programme in its history. After years of under-investment, the infrastructure of the NHS is at last being modernised and made fit for the 21st Century.
“The new hospital plans given the green light today represent the type of bright, modern, clean environments that all NHS patients should experience during their treatment. I look forward to seeing further progress on these schemes, and all of the other hospital building projects that are underway, and particularly to seeing the benefits they will bring to their local communities.
“I am delighted to receive such good quality proposals and I will be encouraging local health organisations to progress these rapidly through the next important stages of their development.”
The 15 new hospital developments are: