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 merits of the proposals submitted by Queen Elizabeth Hospital Trust King’s Lynn as part of the new hospitals programme.

Last year the Government received an expression of interest (EOI) from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to be considered for the next eight new hospitals.

In the first of the two-stage assessment process, the 128 EOIs are evaluated alongside analysis of existing official datasets, including review from regional NHS leaders.

A national panel will consider the full breadth of this evidence to identify a longlist to progress to the next stage, and Ministers will announce the longlist in due course. We aim to update trusts soon on the next steps and to announce the final decision later in the year. While the process is ongoing, we cannot comment on individual schemes.