Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Neil Hudson and Karin Smyth(3 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Karin Smyth
My hon. Friend has been the most tireless campaigner on this issue since coming to the House in July 2024, so of course I will continue to work with her to support her local hospital. The previous Government neglected the NHS: those buildings were left to crumble and their new hospital programme was neither affordable nor deliverable. We are committed to reversing that decline and repairing hospitals like Doncaster Royal infirmary. That is why the trust will receive over £105 million in operational capital across the next four years to be allocated to local priorities, including repairs at Doncaster Royal infirmary.
Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)
Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)
The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)
In January we published an honest, realistic and deliverable plan that puts the programme on a sustainable footing, ensuring that taxpayers get the maximum value for money. We are committed to delivering all the schemes and are moving at pace, with funding in place for design work, construction and business case development. Outside the new hospital programme, we are investing £30 billion in day-to-day maintenance repairs of the NHS estate across this spending review period.
Dr Hudson
As my constituency neighbour, the Health Secretary will know that both his constituents and mine rely heavily on the Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow and Whipps Cross in Leytonstone. Before the election, he promised the rebuild of the Princess Alexandra hospital and he supported the Whipps Won’t Wait campaign, yet under Labour it appears that both Princess Alexandra and Whipps must wait. Whipps Cross now faces an estimated £170 million in backlog maintenance, one of the highest figures in the country. Does the Health Secretary agree with me that rising maintenance costs must be taken into account when prioritising the new hospital programme?
Karin Smyth
Again, what the hon. Gentleman says is really quite astonishing: like everybody else, he knows that no money was allocated by his Government to the new hospital programme beyond last March. The Conservatives know that and they need to start being honest with their constituents—[Interruption.]
Winter Preparedness
Debate between Neil Hudson and Karin Smyth(1 year ago)
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Karin Smyth
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. We need to get back to normal and we need to recognise that there are different things happening to the system at different times of the year, much of which is predictable. We need to ensure that the system is strong enough to be able to cope with those differences.
Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)
As we come into the height of winter, will the Minister join me in thanking all the amazing people on the frontline who are diagnosing, treating and caring for people right across the country? With multiple infectious disease challenges, the impact of cold and extreme weather, and the risk of falls and accidents, will the Government please now rethink their policies on winter fuel cuts and national insurance rises, which will exacerbate the situation and compromise the delivery of primary healthcare, social care and hospice care?