Planned £1.6b Berkshire hospital rebuild delayed

A rebuild of a Berkshire hospital will now not start until 2037 at the earliest, the health secretary has confirmed.

Wes Streeting said on Monday the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) would be included in the third wave of building works, with construction starting between 2037 and 2039.

The hospital in Reading was due to be rebuilt under the previous Conservative government's new hospitals programme, but did not receive funding.

RBH was previously told it could expect to start building in 2031, and estimated that rebuilding it on a new site would currently cost about £1.6b.

That figure is expected to rise in the coming years.

Streeting said: "I know patients in some part of the country will be disappointed by this new timetable. They are right to be."

He said the previous government had "no credible plan" to fund the hospitals they promised.

"The plan we have laid out today is honest, funded and can actually be delivered," he said.

"It is a serious, credible plan to build the hospitals our NHS needs."

Chief executive of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust Steve McManus said it was "positive" the government recognised the need for a new hospital, but the delay was "extremely disappointing".

"Our patients, our staff, our residents, won't see a new hospital for our community here that we serve until well into 2040s," he said.

"We have been pressing for some time [and] this is a further delay which will compound some of the challenges that we have in maintaining a very aged estate."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in July that a review would be carried out on hospital, road and rail projects as part of an attempt to plug a £22bn hole in public finances.

The hospital on Craven Road, Reading, could be relocated to either Thames Valley Park or Thames Valley Science Park.

While it could be rebuilt on the current site, the hospital said it would be more cost effective and better for patients and staff if it was relocated.

Earlier in January, RBH bosses warned they were "losing the battle" against a constant need for repairs.

Fifty operations were cancelled in 18 months due to estate disrepair, including power cuts, leaking roofs and collapsed ceilings.

Lib Dem MP for Wokingham Clive Jones previously said the rebuild was "urgent and unavoidable".

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