Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the quality of (a) infrastructure and (b) property in NHS facilities on (i) patient safety and (ii) service delivery.

The safety of NHS staff and patients is a top priority for the Government, and we recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare services requires safe, sustainable, and effective infrastructure and facilities. Lord Darzi’s investigation considered the impact of NHS infrastructure, estates and capital funding on the NHS, and found that capital investment has been neglected, with the hospital estate left to crumble.

Repairing and rebuilding our healthcare estate is a vital part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan. The Government’s recently published 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy set out 10-year maintenance budgets for the public estate, confirming £6 billion per year for maintenance and repair of the NHS estate up to 2034/35. Within this, the 2025 Spending Review settlement announced a total capital investment of £30 billion over five years in day-to-day maintenance and repair of the NHS estate, with over £5 billion specifically allocated to address the most critical building repairs.

In 2025/26, this includes a £750 million Estates Safety Fund which will deliver vital safety improvements, enhance patient and staff environments, and reduce disruptions to NHS clinical services.