7
Wave 1 hospitals are significantly larger and more complex to build than the wave 0...
Conclusion
Wave 1 hospitals are significantly larger and more complex to build than the wave 0 schemes. The seven hospitals in wave 0, of which six will have fewer than 100 beds, are expected to cost £720 million in total. In contrast, the 16 wave 1 hospitals are forecast to cost £16.6 billion in total, including £8.1 billion from 2025–26 to 2030–31.9 Furthermore, ten of the wave 1 hospitals are the first schemes the Department is building to the novel Hospital 2.0 design, which is not expected to be finalised until summer 2026.10 The programme has included a contingency of only 3% of total funding from 2025–26 to 2029–30, compared to a total contingency of 21% across the programme, and so there is little headroom for any delays or cost overruns that occur in the early years.11
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Inquiry
New Hospital Programme update
Report
76th Report - New Hospital Programme update
22 Apr 2026
HC 1705
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
0.1 yrs
Report published
22 Apr 2026