A pledge to build a large number of them was a prominent feature of the last Tory election manifesto.
In the Lords on 9 November, Alistair Lexden asked about progress. He said: “What has become of the great hospital building programme that Mr Boris Johnson promised in the 2019 Conservative election manifesto?”
Lord Markham, the new Health Minister in the Lords, replied: “We are already working on five hospitals, which are in the process of being delivered. The programme for the 40 hospitals is very much in progress.”
A question by a Labour peer about the 35 hospitals “in progress” brought the answer: “extensive work and building plans are being performed” (a slightly odd expression).
This is a question that needs to be explored further. Closer analysis of this great building programme, for which £3.7 billion has been pledged, suggests that few completely new hospitals will be built.
A spokesman for the Health Foundation has said: “People might equate a new hospital with a completely new building on a new site.” But the majority of the 40 projects will consist of replacements for existing hospitals, new wings or buildings in existing hospitals, or simply the refurbishment of existing hospitals.
As usual Mr Johnson did not tell the complete truth.
