FUNDING of up to £900m to build a new hospital for Basingstoke is not guaranteed, the Basingstoke Gazette can reveal.
After fears were raised that the promised funding to build a new hospital for the town does not exist, the Chronicle's sister paper pressed the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) for answers.
It has now been confirmed that the final allocation of funding for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) to build a new hospital will not be determined until its full business case has been reviewed and agreed.
This is important for Winchester as any changes at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester are dependent on the new hospital in or near Basingstoke. Plans include closing A&E and replacing it with an urgent treatment centre and downgrading the maternity unit.
READ MORE: Funding fears over new hospital as inquiry finds 'no confidence' in programme
It admitted that the £900m announced for the scheme in May 2023 by Steve Barclay, then secretary of state for health and social care, was “indicative” and not guaranteed.
A spokesperson for DHSC said the ‘expected’ £20bn investment for the New Hospital Programme (NHP) is part of a multi-year capital settlement where “further funding will be set out in future spending reviews”.
It added: “All schemes within the New Hospital Programme follow a business case process, including being reviewed and agreed by ministers and HM Treasury. Final individual allocations for schemes will only be determined once the full business cases have been reviewed and agreed.”
DHSC said HHFT is currently ‘pre-consultation business case stage’ for the new hospital scheme and that final decisions on the funding “will be dependent on following the established approvals process as set out in HM Treasury Green Book”.
This comes after Basingstoke MP Maria Miller said the NHS “would not have been allowed to start the current public consultation if funding had not been secured from the Treasury”.
Pressure has been mounting on the town’s MP to ‘prove’ that the funding to build the new hospital exists after a petition was launched by Stacy Hart, the Women’s Equality Party (WE) borough council election candidate for Hatch Warren and Beggarwood.
SEE ALSO: Basingstoke MP under pressure to 'prove' new hospital funds exist
The petition, which has been signed by more than 300 people, has gained cross-party support in Basingstoke, including from the Leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Paul Harvey, who is backing Stacy’s call for Dame Maria to ‘show us the money’ and make sure the new hospital is funded in the Spring Budget on March 6.
Dame Maria is adamant that the funding has been ‘ring-fenced’ but has so far declined to comment on a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which said current funding for the New Hospital Programme “does not include” hospitals in cohort 4 which have been delayed until the 2030s.
Plans to build a new Basingstoke hospital at either Junction 7 of the M3 or the current site in Aldermaston Road are in cohort 4.
The PAC recommends that HM Treasury should agree explicitly in writing whether the cohort 4 schemes are to be met from the current agreed funding.
The DHSC said all trusts have been given an ‘indicative allocation’ for their scheme ‘to support planning and business case development'.
It added that the funding allocations are ‘commercially sensitive’ but said HHFT has released the ‘range for the scheme’ as part of its public consultation.
Dame Maria has been asked for a comment on the information provided by the DHSC.
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has also been approached for comment.
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