UK Government Delays Completion of New Hospital Programme to 2039

The Health Secretary announced that construction for Boris Johnson's promised 40 new hospitals will take at least a decade longer than initially planned, citing funding shortfalls and unrealistic timelines under the previous government.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting criticized the Conservative Party's 2019 pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030, calling it 'unfunded and undeliverable.'
The revised timeline spreads construction across four waves, with some projects not starting until 2039, delaying key hospital rebuilds by more than a decade.
Only seven of the promised hospitals are currently under construction, with an additional 16 projects set to begin by 2030, focusing on facilities with urgent structural issues.
Streeting secured £15 billion in funding for the programme, averaging £3 billion annually, marking the largest NHS capital investment since the last Labour government.
NHS leaders and patient advocates expressed frustration, warning that delayed construction could exacerbate safety risks in aging hospitals already in poor condition.