Wes Streeting came under fire yesterday as he delayed the Conservatives’ new NHS hospital programme by at least a decade.
The health secretary was accused of using Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration to ‘bury bad news’ and break yet another Labour election promise.
It means patients will face years more misery in dilapidated old hospitals – some with leaking roofs and crumbling walls and ceilings.
Former Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed in 2019 to build 40 new NHS hospitals across England by 2030.
But the dire state of the country’s finances means some will now not begin construction until 2039, Mr Streeting told MPs.
He accused the Conservatives of failing to fund their plan, saying it had been ‘built on the shaky foundation of false hope’.
Setting out a new timetable, Mr Streeting said construction of the new hospitals would proceed in four ‘waves’, with the final part not beginning until between 2035 and 2039.
The first wave is already under construction, and set to be completed in the next three years.
These include four hospitals in Dorset, the Cedar Programme in the North East, the Oriel Eye Hospital in London and the National Rehabilitation Centre near Loughborough.
Mr Streeting said the new timetable was ‘honest, funded and can actually be delivered’.
Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat health and social care spokesperson, said the Conservatives had ‘shamelessly’ made promises on the plans that they did not intend to keep.
She added: ‘Now this government uses the day of Trump’s inauguration in a shoddy attempt to bury bad news, showing an outrageous disregard for patients.’
