• Make a contribution
  • Get the Print Edition
  • Sign up for our daily newsletter
Sunday, May 25, 2025
  • Login
Reading Today Online
  • HOME
  • YOUR AREA
    • All
    • Caversham
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Katesgrove
    • Reading
    • Southcote & Coley
    • Tilehurst & Norcot
    • Whitley

    Decades old tree irrevocably damaged by electricity workers cut down in East Reading

    Plans approved for new location for Reading driving test centre

    Showdown set as plan for new homes in Caversham is hit with objections by neighbours

    Former headteacher who made illegal images of children banned from teaching for life

    Plan to add 70 new homes to huge Reading Golf Course development submitted

    Fifteen roads seeing resurfacing as next six-week phase of improvements starts next week

    Royal Berks Charity funds new defibrillators at RBH

    Vape-related fires jump by 400% since 2020, data shows

    UTC students lead the way on sustainability at multi-academy trust summit

  • COMMUNITY
  • READING FC
  • SPORT
    • All
    • Basketball
    • Football
    • Rugby

    Former Reading FC manager Ruben Selles linked with League One job

    Four in a row for BAPCO

    Reading fans – you can finally dare to dream again

    Rob Couhig reveals new Reading FC CEO following takeover

    It’s a podium streak for Wokingham racing star Bobby with a win at Silverstone

    Rams RFC celebrate at end of season ball

    Lewis hits brilliant century to see Berkshire CCC beat Buckinghamshire

    ‘Without you, there would be no club’: Defender sends farewell message to Reading FC fans

    Style and splendour returns to Newbury

  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Reading Today Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Hospitals redevelopment: Government funding for Frimley Park, but work continues on RBH plans

Phil Creighton by Phil Creighton
Thursday, May 25, 2023 7:44 pm
in Featured, Reading
A A
Wokingham residents will discuss Royal Berkshire Hospital redevelopment plans at a community event on March 21. Picture: Juan Martinez via Wikimedia Commons

Wokingham residents will discuss Royal Berkshire Hospital redevelopment plans at a community event on March 21. Picture: Juan Martinez via Wikimedia Commons

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

WORK to develop a new Royal Berkshire Hospital will continue, despite not being named as one of five sites to be rebuilt by 2030.

However, a Camberley-based hospital used by some borough residents was.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay announced the plans in the House of Commons on Thursday, May 25, saying the government is committed to its 2019 general election promise of building 40 new hospitals by 2030. The government concedes that eight schemes will be finished after this deadline, but by working on three mental health hospitals they will still reach the target.

It says that by the end of next year, more than 20 schemes will be either underway or completed.

More than £20 billion is expected to be spent on the new infrastructure.

The five hospitals announced are Airedale in West Yorkshire, Queen Elizabeth King’s Lynn in Norfolk, Hinchingbrooke in Cambridgeshire, Mid Cheshire Leighton in Cheshire and Frimley Park in Surrey. They have been chosen due to being constructed from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a lightweight type of concrete used to construct parts of the NHS estate in the past but has a limited lifespan, after which it deteriorates significantly.

Related posts

Woman in her seventies sexually assaulted on bus in Reading

Boy sexually assaulted in Reading, police release e-fit

Reading man fails to appear in court on charge of burglary

Young man and woman attacked by group of teenagers in Reading robbery

Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay said: “These five hospitals are in pressing need of repair and are being prioritised so patients and staff can benefit from major new hospital buildings, equipped with the latest technology.”

Bracknell MP James Sunderland had teamed up with parliamentary colleagues Michael Gove and Leo Docherty to campaign for the redevelopment of Frimley Park, which was built in the 1970s. Infrastructure issues were discovered in 2020, and it is thought that two-thirds of the site comprises the RAAC.

The trust submitted its bid to the Department of Health in December 2021, saying it would cost £1.26 billion to create the new site.

In March, Surrey Heath council’s planning committee granted permission.

Frimley Park’s planned redevelopment is not a new proposal. Planning permission had previously been granted in 2019, but this expired last year as the build had stalled due to Covid-19.

Mr Sunderland was pleased with the announcement.

“I very much welcome news that Frimley Park Hospital is one of five reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete hospitals being given priority in today’s hospital funding announcement,” he said.

“This is fantastic news.”

Work on Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital will continue despite not been announced in parliament. Wokingham Today exclusively revealed the proposal in October 2020.

The Building Berkshire Together team, which is devising the plans on behalf of the NHS Trust, say the Victorian site in Reading town centre is ageing, which makes it hard to deliver modern healthcare for an increasing number of people.

They argue that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address the issues and create a 21st century healthcare centre.

Proposals include revamping the existing site but keeping the Victorian façade on London Road or creating a new site on land in Green Park or Shinfield’s science park.

To help gauge interest, it has been running workshops and consultations, as well as running regular online updates.

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said it is still very much looking to the future.

“As the Secretary of State for Health Steve Barclay announced in the Commons, the redevelopment of the Royal Berkshire Hospital is still part of the rolling new hospital programme and we are in ‘active discussions’ about the work and the complexities of the site,” a spokesperson said.

“As these talks continue, we are progressing our Outline Business Case and pushing ahead with enabling works to ensure we are in a strong position to proceed with the redevelopment as soon as practicable.

“Our priority is to deliver safe and outstanding care to our patients, and we are committed to ensuring they continue to receive the best possible treatment as this work progresses.

“We will continue to work closely with our system partners and will involve and engage with our staff, patients, key stakeholders and local people to ensure that when the time comes, we will deliver next generation care from the best possible healthcare facilities.”

Keep up to date by signing up for our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people who have requested it.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Tags: Building Berkshire TogetherGreen Parkjames sunderlandrbhreadingRoyal BerksRoyal Berkshire Hospitalshinfield
Previous Post

Student set to swim from Switzerland to France in aid of charity Beat

Next Post

Rams RFC hand out awards at end of season ball

FOLLOW US

POPULAR STORIES

  • Young man and woman attacked by group of teenagers in Reading robbery

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Former Reading FC star to become free agent following Championship relegation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Thousands experience power outage in Reading, not expected to be fixed for hours

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC group Sell Before We Dai makes generous donation following end of campaign

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC takeover: EFL provides update as sale nears completion

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

RDG.Today – which is a Social Enterprise – provides Reading Borough with free, independent news coverage.

If you are able, please support our work

Click Here to Support RDG.Today

ABOUT US

Reading Today is dedicated to providing news online across the whole of the Borough of Reading. It is a Social Enterprise, existing to support the various communities in Reading Borough.

CONTACT US

news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

Reading Today Logo

Keep up to date with our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people that have subscribed

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

The Wokingham Paper Ltd publications are regulated by IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
If you have a complaint about a  The Wokingham Paper Ltd  publication in print or online, you should, in the first instance, contact the publication concerned, email: editor@wokingham.today, or telephone: 0118 327 2662. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should contact IPSO by telephone: 0300 123 2220, or visit its website: www.ipso.co.uk. Members of the public are welcome to contact IPSO at any time if they are not sure how to proceed, or need advice on how to frame a complaint.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • MY AREA
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Bracknell
    • Calcot
    • Caversham
    • Crowthorne
    • Earley
  • COMMUNITY
  • SPORT
    • Reading FC
    • Football
    • Rugby
    • Basketball
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
  • SUPPORT US
  • SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
  • WHERE TO GET THE PRINT EDITION

© 2021 - The Wokingham Paper Ltd - All Right Reserved.