Leeds General Infirmary: Disappointment as health secretary announces delays to hospital redevelopment
Hospital bosses at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) have said they are “extremely disappointed” by delays to huge redevelopment plans.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced yesterday (January 20) that the site is among those where building work has been pushed back.
It comes in spite of plans from the previous Conservative government to deliver the project by 2030. Now, work is not expected to start for at least another five years.
Outline planning consent for a new state-of-the-art hospital at the LGI site was secured back in 2020. The hospital would include a new home for Leeds Children’s Hospital, a new adults’ hospital and one of the largest, single-site maternity centres in the country.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said it would transform healthcare for people across the region through the creation of an ‘Innovation Village’, that would deliver the latest technology to patients and bring an economic boost.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Streeting admitted that “patients in some parts of the country will be disappointed” as a number of other projects were pushed back, but said that the previous government’s timetable was built on “shaky foundations”.
Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are extremely disappointed to hear that we will be unable to start construction on the new hospital at Leeds General Infirmary until at least 2030.
“We have been waiting since 2019 to build this new hospital for our patients, staff and communities in Leeds, Yorkshire and beyond. We will continue to work with the New Hospital Programme, to understand the detail of this announcement and what this means for our plans.
“We also need to understand the impact this delay will have on our hospital services and our ageing estate, which has one of the highest backlog maintenance requirements in the NHS.”
He added: “For some time now, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has had advanced and well-developed plans for a new hospital at Leeds General Infirmary.
“We have a cleared construction site, made considerable progress with our preparatory works and have been working towards securing more detailed planning consent, following the outline planning consent which was secured in 2020.”
The move has also attracted criticism from councillors in the city, including Lib Dem leader Coun Stewart Golton who described it as the “worst possible outcome” that could have “major implications for the city going forward”.
He is one of a number of politicians who previously wrote to the Chancellor asking for her to commit to funding for the LGI redevelopment, alongside Leeds City Council leader Coun James Lewis and Conservative leader Coun Alan Lamb.
Coun Lamb said that “patients and hospital staff across our city are justified in being extremely disappointed”, as the move resembles a “huge blow to everyone who will now have to wait years and years for the first-rate facilities we deserve”.