Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the maximum remaining lifespan is of each RAAC building left on the estate of Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

A report by Mott MacDonald in autumn 2022 into five of the seven predominantly reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) hospitals, including Hinchingbrooke Hospital, estimated that the remaining life of the RAAC panels at the sites would generally extend until approximately 2030.

We have since commissioned a comprehensive site-by-site report into the seven RAAC schemes, including Hinchingbrooke Hospital, due to report in summer 2025. The report objectives include forming an updated assessment of the remaining expected life span of the affected sites and establishing whether there are additional mitigation works that could be put in place to extend the sufficiently safe use of the whole hospital site, or areas of the hospital site. Conducting periodic reviews is to be expected in projects of this scale, and given the risks associated with RAAC.

Construction for all RAAC replacement schemes is planned to commence and substantially deliver between 2025 and 2030 as part of Wave 1 of the New Hospital Programme. We will prioritise the most affected buildings and services first, followed by the less affected parts of existing hospitals. We continue to prioritise these schemes, with mitigation works in place to ensure patient and staff safety.