Following a fresh review, the Government confirmed all previously planned hospitals will be delivered but over a longer time frame of start times extending to 2039.
Hospital projects will be delivered in three further phases, each lasting five years.
Starts on the biggest schemes have been pushed back beyond 2030, which was the original target date for the whole programme when first launched by Boris Johnson.
Schemes already in construction (Wave 0) will continue as planned. The remaining hospital projects will advance in three waves over 15 years.
Wave 1 starting this year includes seven hospitals constructed primarily using RAAC.
| Revised hospital programme timeline |
| Wave 0: schemes already under construction |
| Scheme |
Started construction |
Cost estimate |
| Alumhurst Road Children’s Mental Health Unit, Dorset |
|
£500m or less |
| Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Dorset |
|
£500m or less |
| St Ann’s Hospital, Dorset |
|
£500m or less |
| Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester |
|
£500m or less |
| CEDAR Programme, North East |
|
tbc |
| Oriel Eye Hospital, London |
|
tbc |
| National Rehabilitation Centre |
|
tbc |
| Wave 1: schemes to start construction between 2025 and 2030 |
| Scheme |
Expected start date |
Cost estimate |
| Poole Hospital, Dorset |
2025 to 2026 |
£500m or less |
| Derriford Emergency Care Hospital, Plymouth |
2025 to 2026 |
£500m or less |
| Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital |
2025 to 2026 |
£500m or less |
| Shotley Bridge Community Hospital, Durham |
2026 to 2027 |
£500m or less |
| Milton Keynes Hospital |
2027 to 2028 |
£500m or less |
| Women and Children’s Hospital, Cornwall |
2027 to 2028 |
£500m or less |
| Hillingdon Hospital, north-west London |
2027 to 2028 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| North Manchester General Hospital |
2027 to 2028 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds (RAAC) |
2027 to 2028 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Hinchingbrooke Hospital (RAAC) |
2027 to 2028 |
£501m to £1bn |
| James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth (RAAC) |
2027 to 2028 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn (RAAC) |
2027 to 2028 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Leighton Hospital (RAAC) |
2027 to 2028 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Airedale General Hospital (RAAC) |
2027 to 2028 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Frimley Park Hospital (RAAC) |
2028 to 2029 |
£1.5bn to £2bn |
| Brighton 3Ts Hospital |
2026 to 2027 |
tbc |
| Wave 2: schemes (to start construction between 2030 and 2035 |
| Leeds General Infirmary |
2032 to 2034 |
£1.5bn to £2bn |
| Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, Sutton |
2032 to 2034 |
£1.5bn to £2bn |
| Whipps Cross University Hospital, north-east London |
2032 to 2034 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow |
2032 to 2034 |
£1.5bn to £2bn |
| Watford General Hospital |
2032 to 2034 |
£1.5bn to £2bn |
| Leicester General Hospital Royal Infirmary |
2032 to 2034 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Kettering General Hospital |
2032 to 2034 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton |
2032 to 2034 |
£501m to £1bn |
| Torbay Hospital |
2032 to 2034 |
£501m to £1bn |
| Wave 3: schemes to start construction between 2035 and 2039 |
| Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, London |
2035 to 2038 |
£1.5bn to £2bn |
| North Devon District Hospital, Barnstaple |
2035 to 2038 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| Royal Lancaster Infirmary |
2035 to 2038 |
£1bn to £1.5bn |
| St Mary’s Hospital, north west London |
2035 to 2038 |
£2bn or more |
| Royal Preston Hospital |
2037 to 2039 |
£2bn or more |
| Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital |
2037 to 2039 |
£2bn or more |
| Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading |
2037 to 2039 |
£2bn or more |
| Hampshire Hospitals |
2037 to 2039 |
£2bn or more |
| Eastbourne District General, Conquest Hospital and Bexhill Community Hospital |
2037 to 2039 |
£1.5bn to £2bn |
Hospital projects destined for later waves will be supported on their development to ensure that they are ready for main construction.
Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary, said the new plan was an “honest, funded, and deliverable programme” to rebuild the NHS.
He added: “The New Hospital Programme we inherited was unfunded and undeliverable.
“Not a single new hospital was built in the past five years, and there was no credible funding plan to build forty in the next five years.”
In May 2023, the previous Conservative government announced that the already revised programme was backed by over £20bn of investment – but this funding was never delivered, says the Labour Government.
Streeting said the New Hospital Programme team would continue to work closely with industry to support construction, develop relationships and secure investment within the supply chain to help deliver cost effectively with repeatable modular design.
Morag Stuart, chief programme officer for the New Hospital Programme, said: “This announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care provides certainty on the next steps for the New Hospital Programme.
“We will continue to work with local NHS organisations to deliver improvements to hospitals across England, including making best use of new technology and improving layouts – and ensuring future hospitals are designed to meet the needs of patients and staff.”
The New Hospital Programme is just one part of the government’s wider commitment to transforming the NHS estate.
Over £1bn has been set aside to make inroads into the existing backlog of critical maintenance, repairs and upgrades, while £102m has been dedicated for upgrades to GP surgeries across England as a first step towards transforming the primary care estate.
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