Local members of parliament have reacted to yesterday’s news that the rebuilding of the Royal Berkshire hospital may not start until the late 2030s.
Wokingham’s Liberal Democrat MP, Clive Jones, has labelled the news as “heartbreaking”.
He called this decision “hugely disappointing,” and is asking what the Government plans to do to keep the Royal Berks afloat until the new hospital is built?
Jones has acknowledged the appalling inheritance from the Conservatives, but said
postponing the rebuild of Royal Berkshire Hospital is a false economy.
He said that each year that the Royal Berks is not built, the taxpayer will have to fund tens of millions of pounds for extra maintenance, and much more when the impact of cancelled operations and day- to-day inefficiencies are also counted in.
The need for the Royal Berks’ rebuild is its crumbling infrastructure.
Some buildings date from 1839, and 95% of the lifts in the hospital are beyond their end of life.
Jones said: “Be in no doubt – it is the Conservative government that put us in this position, promising the rebuild of the Royal Berks, wasting years whilst not allocating the money or committing proper resources to the project and ultimately delivering nothing.
“The incredible staff at the Royal Berks deserve so much better. Many of those who
came to the hospital in 2019 on a wave of optimism following the Conservatives’ false promises will have retired by the time this rebuild finally gets underway.
“And patients will pay the cost with cancelled operations and unacceptable conditions for years to come.
“We have to do better.
“Delaying the rebuild only becomes more expensive, costing the taxpayer even more down the line. And until we do, the government will need to find additional money to fix the existing problems.”
Responding to the announcement, local Labour MPs Olivia Bailey, Matt Rodda and Yuan Yang issued a joint statement.
They said: “We are pleased we now have a definitive commitment and a realistic plan to deliver the world class hospital our community deserves, but we are disappointed by the delay to its construction.
“We will continue to fight tirelessly to make the case for our promised hospital to be built as soon as possible.”
Wes Streeting, Labour’s secretary of state for health and social care said:
“Since the election, the three Reading MPs Olivia, Matt and Yuan have used every single possibility to stop and remind me just how important a new Royal Berkshire Hospital is.
“The New Hospital Programme we inherited was unfunded and undeliverable. Not a single new hospital was built in the past five years, and there was no credible plan to build forty in the next five years.
“We are setting out an honest, funded, and deliverable programme to rebuild our NHS.
“I am committed to delivering a new Royal Berkshire Hospital and to rebuilding our NHS.”
