Dear colleague,
As part of our announcement of £3.7 billion for 40 hospitals we will build over the next 10 years, I am delighted to inform you that East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust will be one of the 40.
These comprise the Health Infrastructure Plan – the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. On top of this, eight further new schemes will be invited to bid to join the Plan, meaning we will build 48 hospitals in total by the end of the decade. This will deliver on our manifesto commitment of 40 new hospitals by the end of this decade.
This investment will be on top of the record extra £33.9 billion a year by 2023 to 2024 that the government is providing to the NHS, and passed into law this year. It also comes on top of the £450 million for 142 A&E upgrades we announced this summer ahead of winter to improve infection control and increase capacity, as well, of course, as the 20 hospital upgrades the Prime Minister announced last year.
Alongside work to deliver the Government’s Manifesto commitment on 40 new hospitals, progress is also being made on delivering 50,000 more nurses, with over 14,100 more working in the NHS compared to last year, as well as over 9,200 more doctors.
We protected the NHS through the peak of Coronavirus. Today we are recommitting to protect the NHS for years to come. Today’s announcement reaffirms our commitment to ensuring both staff and patients across the country have world-class care for years to come.
I would of course be very happy to discuss this or any health matter with you, so we can make sure your local NHS is the very best it can be.
A list of the 40 hospitals, which includes new community hospitals, mental health hospitals, women and children’s hospitals, district general hospitals and major tertiary hospitals, is in the annex.
Yours ever,
Matt Hancock
