Public Accounts Committee says it is 鈥渆xtremely concerned鈥� by lack of progress on 拢20bn programme
The government鈥檚 claims that using modern methods of construction will cut costs and delivery time on new hospital projects are at risk of being 鈥減ipe dreams鈥�, an inquiry has found.
The Public Accounts Committee鈥檚 (PAC) first report on the 拢20bn new hospital programme (NHP) said it was 鈥渆xtremely concerned鈥� by the lack of overall progress the NHP had made since its 2020 launch, describing the programme鈥檚 development as 鈥渨orryingly slow鈥�.
It warned the development and design of the modern methods of construction (MMC) approach, dubbed 鈥淗ospital 2.0鈥�, had taken too long to get off the drawing board and is now running at least five months behind schedule.
The PAC鈥檚 highly critical 32-page report found that a failure to allow time for proper piloting of approaches such as material standardisation could 鈥渂ake in鈥� design and construction issues.
The NHP was originally launched in 2020 and included a pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.
The programme was reset in May this year, adding five more hospitals found to contain unstable reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), while delaying eight of the schemes past the original 2030 deadline.
The cross-party committee, which is chaired by Labour MP Meg Hillier, said the delays had both reduced the time available to test the designs in real-life scenarios and hindered meaningful engagement between the NHP and the industry on the details of the approach.
A failure to thoroughly pilot MMC approaches could store up problems for future generations because of 鈥渄efective or poorly thought through鈥� standardisation, it said, adding a recommendation that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) should start at least on early scheme next year to trial designs.
The PAC also echoed warnings made by the National Audit Office (NAO) in July over the 鈥渕aximum risk鈥� approach taken by the programme to build the majority of schemes within a five-year window, risking delays due to a lack of capacity in the industry.
>>See more: Rebooting the New Hospital Programme: Is this the solution to the NHS backlog?
鈥淲ith a very large number of hospitals planned to be in construction simultaneously in the last years of the decade, we have no confidence that even the reduced target of 32 new hospitals is achievable by 2030,鈥� the PAC said.
The committee recommended that the DHSC should 鈥渦rgently鈥� examine how the programme can be made to deliver some 鈥渢angible results鈥� by looking at whether schemes can be brought forward using pre-existing design and construction approaches .
The NHP is expected to appoint a consultant team to lead the programme within the next few months on a 拢600m contract lasting at least for six years from 2024.
The programme delivery partner will be tasked with developing the infrastructure, systems and processes needed to embrace the NHP鈥檚 鈥渢ransformative vision鈥� for hospital construction, an NHP update said last month.
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