Following the publication of the Labour Government’s review of the New Hospital Programme, funding has today been confirmed and a green light given for West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn – both hospitals serve South West Norfolk residents. The reconstruction will begin in 2027.
Terry Jermy MP described this as a “fantastic day” for his constituents and funding for the NHS, and that his “number on priority” since being elected has been ensuring funding to rebuild the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury and St. Edmunds, as well as Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, both of which has now been given a timetable to be reconstructed and modernised.
Jermy added that the scheme as “desperately needed” and said that “after years of false hope, residents in South West Norfolk will today breathe a sigh of relief that we finally have a timetable for delivery thanks to Labour.”
There had previously been years of uncertainty as to whether the schemes would go ahead. The New Hospitals Programme, announced by Boris Johnson in 2020, promised ‘40 new hospitals’ but was delayed by years and not a single new hospital had been constructed by the time the Conservatives left office.
Upon coming into power, Labour found that the funding for the programme was shockingly due to run out in March 2025.
A review of the programme was announced after the election in order to provide a realistic and affordable timetable for delivery and to give patients an honest, realistic, deliverable timetable that they can believe in.
The outcome of that review was announced today and the New Hospitals Programme has now been put on a sustainable footing, with a timeline that can be met, and a budget that is consistent with the fiscal rules that the Labour Government is operating under.
Terry Jermy MP said, “I am absolutely delighted. Today is the news that residents in South West Norfolk have been waiting to hear for far too long.
“For years we have been led up the garden path with false promises from the Tories about when this desperately needed scheme will finally be underway in our community. To get the news that both the hospitals serving each end of the constituency will be rebuild is great. Both clearly need the investment after years of neglect.
“It is thanks to this Labour Government that we now have a timetable for delivery so patients finally get the care they deserve.”
Wes Streeting, Labour’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said, “Since the election, Terry has been banging the drum day and night for both West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn.
“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.
“When I walked into the Department of Health and Social Care, I was told that the funding for the New Hospitals Programme runs out in March. We were determined to put the programme on a firm footing, so we can build the new hospitals our NHS needs.
“Today we are setting out an honest, funded, and deliverable programme to rebuild our NHS. I am committed to delivering to rebuilding our NHS.”
