Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the maintenance and repairs backlog at Stepping Hill Hospital on the quality of patient care.

The Government recognises that delivering high-quality National Health Service healthcare requires safe and effective infrastructure.

Integrated care systems (ICSs) are responsible for strategic infrastructure planning for their respective areas and were recently commissioned by NHS England to develop 10-year infrastructure strategies. As part of these strategies, systems assessed how the estate, digital, equipment, and workforce models contribute to the delivery of the overarching system strategy, related clinical pathways, and national priorities for delivering care. The strategies included consideration of the condition of the estate.

In 2025/26, the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB), responsible for Stepping Hill Hospital, has been provisionally allocated £187 million for operational capital, over £36 million for estates safety, and over £30 million to support constitutional standards recovery. The Stockport NHS Foundation Trust is encouraged to discuss options with the Greater Manchester ICB to allocate some of their operational capital and national programme allocations towards tackling the backlog of maintenance and ensuring that infrastructure supports quality care at Stepping Hill Hospital.

We are pleased that despite challenging infrastructure, the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has made progress towards reducing its waiting list. As of February 2025, there were 35,824 patient pathways waiting for a procedure. Of these, 54.3% of pathways were waiting within 18 weeks for a procedure. This compares to 50.3% of pathways waiting within 18 weeks for a procedure in February 2024.