New Hospital Programme

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 20 Jul 2023 Closed: 8 Mar 2024 Parliament page
The New Hospital Programme was set up in 2020 to build 40 new hospitals in England by 2030. It has £3.7 billion in capital funding for this for up to March 2025, with more to be provided for the following five years. The Programme is also intended to transform how … Read more
1 Recommendation
41 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 6 events
8 Mar
2024
Report published
26 Feb
2024
Correspondence
17 Nov
2023
Report published
16 Oct
2023
Correspondence
7 Sep
2023
Oral evidence
7 Sep
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
7 Sep 2023
View on parliament.uk
New Hospitals Programme
Amanda Pritchard · NHS England Julian Kelly · NHS England Natalie Forrest · Department of Health and Social Care Professor Sir Stephen Powis · NHS England Shona Dunn · Home Office
Title HC No. Published Items Response
First Report - The New Hospital Programme HC 77 17 Nov 2023 42 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
7 results
Clear
5 Recommendation Acknowledged
First Report - The New Hospital Pr…
Amend Hospital 2.0 design to prevent undersized hospitals and assess national capacity.
DHSC is at risk of locking in a standard design that will result in future hospitals being too small, which could lead to significantly greater expenditure and disruption in the long run. The version of Hospital 2.0 that DHSC used … Read more
Government Response
The government notes the recommendation, stating it will engage with any future Health and Social Care Committee inquiries and is continuing to review Hospital 2.0 designs with experts to meet local needs, with the next product release expected in May 2024.
HM Treasury
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8 Conclusion Acknowledged
First Report - The New Hospital Pr…
Safeguard planned capital investment from diversion to meet day-to-day spending needs.
The raiding of capital budgets in the recent past is an underlying cause of the estates crisis the NHS is now in. As this Committee has highlighted several times, DHSC has for some years focused on short-term financial viability in … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees in principle not to reduce planned capital investment, but states it will continue to follow its usual processes for financial decisions, including switching capital budgets in exceptional circumstances, and will make considerations clear as part of Ministerial advice.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Acknowledged
First Report - The New Hospital Pr…
Government committed to remove RAAC by 2035 with time-limited funding allocation.
NHS England told us that it had set up a separate programme in 2019 to deal with RAAC.44 In 2020, government committed to remove RAAC from the NHS estate by 2035, subsequently allocating £685 million for RAAC management and remediation … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges its commitment to eradicate RAAC by 2035, stating this will remain under review. It notes ongoing work to rebuild affected hospitals and assesses financial implications, with future funding needs beyond 2024-25 to be addressed in subsequent Spending Reviews.
HM Treasury
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25 Conclusion Acknowledged
First Report - The New Hospital Pr…
Trusts primarily responsible for RAAC risk management, despite some national technical support.
We asked whether NHS trusts were getting adequate help from national bodies given the risks they had to manage. NHS England told use that it was helping trusts to source the right technical support, but trusts themselves were responsible for … Read more
Government Response
The government, despite stating 'recommendation implemented', broadly outlines ongoing work with NHS Trusts to expedite RAAC surveys and publish information. It doesn't specifically address the committee's observation on the adequacy of help provided to trusts, beyond implying continued support through existing work.
HM Treasury
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27 Conclusion Acknowledged
First Report - The New Hospital Pr…
New Hospital Programme expanded to 48 schemes, incorporating HIP and pre-existing projects.
DHSC launched a major capital investment programme, the Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP), in 2019. It comprised 27 schemes, all of which joined NHP in 2020. When one of the HIP schemes was split into five separate schemes, the total number … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's summary by providing background on the deteriorating NHS estate, the commitment to build 40 new hospitals by 2030, and the establishment and funding of the New Hospital Programme to address these issues.
HM Treasury
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41 Conclusion Acknowledged
First Report - The New Hospital Pr…
Under-investment in NHS capital impedes productivity and compromises modern healthcare environment standards.
In written evidence, the NHS Confederation also highlighted to us that the NHS was suffering because of the under-investment in capital. It said this was hampering productivity and efficiency at a time when record numbers of adults were unable to … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the Committee's findings on under-investment in NHS capital, stating it provides record amounts of capital and is committed to providing more certainty through rolling investment programmes.
HM Treasury
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42 Conclusion Acknowledged
First Report - The New Hospital Pr…
New Hospital Programme expected to address approximately one-third of existing NHS maintenance backlog.
We asked DHSC whether NHP would affect the maintenance backlog. DHSC told us that the programme would help to address the backlog because around a third of the reported backlog was at sites that would be redeveloped or replaced by … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the Committee's observations regarding the New Hospital Programme and maintenance backlog, reiterating its commitment to capital investment and providing record funding for the NHS.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 42 of 1 classified
Accepted 25
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 7
Deferred 3
Not Addressed 1
Rejected 5
Total 1 rec + 41 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
26 Feb 2024 Correspondence from Shona Dunn, Second Permanent Secretary, Department of Health and Social Care, re Reinforced Autoclave Aerated Concrete, dated 15 February 2024
Parliament page
16 Oct 2023 Correspondence from Shona Dunn, Second Permanent Secretary, Department for Health and Social Care, re Public Accounts Committee New Hospital Programme Hearing – 7 September 2023, dated 26 September 2023
Parliament page