Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to bring the Fielding Palmer Hospital back into full-time use as a community health hub for Lutterworth.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The transition from hospital to community care was one of the three big shifts set out in the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, and we recognise the role of community facilities in delivering this ambition.

The 2025 Spending Review set out a four-year health capital settlement extending to 2029/30. This will provide local National Health Service organisations, including the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, responsible for Fielding Palmer Hospital, with the confidence needed for long-term investment decisions, including larger infrastructure projects.

From 2026/27 to 2029/30, the NHS Midlands Region has been allocated £910.1 million to deliver the shift from hospital to community care and to support the return to constitutional standards. Regional teams are currently prioritising the funding between proposed schemes across the midlands and will be considering the merits of a community health hub for Lutterworth as part of this process. In addition to national capital, the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust has been allocated £40.2 million in operational capital across 2026/27 to 2029/30, which they can allocate to local priorities, including funding for a new health hub.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Nick Smith (Chair); Bambos Charalambous; Alberto Costa; Mary Glindon