Funding secured to buy land for new hospital
The chief executive of an NHS trust has said she is "delighted" that it will be able to purchase land for a new hospital.
Alex Whitfield, the head of Hampshire Hospitals, confirmed it has been allocated funding to buy a site near junction seven of the M3 for a new facility in Basingstoke.
In January she expressed "disappointment" with the government decision to delay construction until 2037.
She said there was no update on the date of the build, but being able to buy the land this financial year does "at least feel like progress".
Hampshire Hospitals is expected to receive at least £2bn of funding as part of the Government's New Hospital programme.
But it is part of the third wave of the scheme, meaning work will not begin on the new building for at least 12 years.
Ms Whitfield said they needed to secure the land near the M3 so that the option "doesn't disappear on us".
She admitted this did not guarantee that the hospital would be built at the site.
"It is entirely possible that in a decade's time the world might have changed a bit," she said.
"It's very clear that Basingstoke needs a new hospital and it will happen."
She said Health Minister Karin Smyth visited the trust recently and confirmed it "will get built".
Roy Lilley, a former NHS trust boss, who is now an independent health commentator, is less optimistic and does not think the hospital will be built.
"It's just totally and utterly bonkers," he said, adding that the government and economy could change by 2037.
"The money that we are spending at the moment to prop these places up, we could actually use that money to build new hospitals," Mr Lilley said.
Kit Malthouse, Conservative MP for North West Hampshire said: "Waiting until 2037 is not just unacceptable — it's senseless.
"Forecasting that far ahead is unreliable; by then we'll have had three general elections and a completely different spending landscape. Delaying now risks killing the project entirely.
"Our population has grown and will grow further. Our existing hospital buildings at Basingstoke are outdated and under strain.
"Other communities in the national programme are seeing their hospitals delivered much sooner — why not ours?"
A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care said: "The New Hospital Programme we inherited was undeliverable, with funding due to run out in March.
"This government has confirmed a funding plan and an honest, realistic timetable to put us on track to deliver the rebuild of Hampshire Hospital, and we will work closely with the trust as we progress through our delivery plan.
"We have also allocated £1bn to address the backlog of critical NHS maintenance and repairs to help ensure hospitals are safe and sustainable."
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Host of hospital builds delayed by up to 14 years
New hospital build delay 'really disappointing'
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