Contribution
I congratulate the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mr Morrison) on securing this very important debate. Throughout it, he and other Members have paid tribute to the work that happens at Stepping Hill hospital, despite what are clearly often very difficult situations, and it is important that that is on the record.
Unfortunately, the Minister for Secondary Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth), who is the Minister with responsibility for this, could not be here this evening. I am sorry to be a poor replacement for her, but let me reassure the hon. Member for Cheadle and the House that I will report this discussion to her directly. I know that she is aware of this debate, and I am sure that she will follow up in the appropriate way with the Members concerned.
As I said, Members have rightly paid tribute to all the staff at Stepping Hill hospital. The hospital is extremely important to the communities it serves, and its patients and staff deserve facilities that are safe, resilient and fit to deliver high-quality care. I am going to make a few remarks about the overall position with capital investment and how we have got to this point, but none of that is to say anything other than that all patients and staff deserve good-quality facilities.
For too long, capital investment in the NHS was insufficient and short term, and the challenges at Stepping Hill reflect a much wider problem across the NHS estate. Capital budgets were repeatedly raided to meet day-to-day pressures, and the result is an estate carrying the consequences of years of under-investment, as has been made clear. There are no quick fixes, but we can change the way the NHS invests in its buildings, moving away from short-term fixes towards sustained investment and proper long-term planning. That is why our 10-year capital plan for health and social care is based on three core principles: more investment; greater certainty, so that investment can be planned over the long term; and greater autonomy for local leaders to decide how capital is best used.
First, we are investing more. After years of under-investment, we are providing the largest capital budget in NHS history, with annual spending rising to £15 billion by the end of this spending review period. Within this, the estates safety fund will provide £6.75 billion over the next nine years to tackle the poorest-quality parts of the NHS estate and ensure safe environments for patients and staff. We have already confirmed £1.5 billion of investment in projects through the fund, including £1.3 billion for maintenance, safety and resilience projects across the NHS estate and more than £200 million for major hospital projects. This means that more than 950 schemes are being delivered across the country.
That sits alongside around £21 billion in operational capital over this spending review period, empowering local health organisations to invest in their priorities, including their estates. We are also investing around £5 billion over the spending review period to expand and modernise diagnostic, elective, mental health and emergency services, helping to increase capacity, cut waiting times and improve urgent and emergency care performance.
Secondly, we are providing greater certainty over that investment. We have provided NHS organisations with multi-year capital allocations to 2030 and a further five years of certainty beyond that for estates maintenance funding to 2035. This stability is designed to provide the confidence needed for long-term investment decisions and responds directly to one of the key NHS capital planning challenges cited by stakeholders. Instead of planning from one year to the next, local NHS leaders can now look ahead, prioritise the most serious risks, plan investment over the longer term and secure better value for the taxpayer. That is particularly important for ageing estates like Stepping Hill, where we need to move away from repeatedly patching up ageing buildings and towards properly planned strategic interventions.
The hon. Member for Cheadle asked me about what Stepping Hill needs to put it on a different path. Local NHS leaders are best placed to understand their estates’ investment requirements and prioritise capital accordingly. The estates safety fund is designed to give regions flexibility and target that funding in this way, rather than decisions being taken centrally. That decision-making capacity is enabled by the long-term funding certainty that the Government have given them. However, the hon. Member has put very clearly on the record what is happening at Stepping Hill hospital. I will report back to the Department what I have heard tonight, and I feel sure that local NHS leaders in his region—which is also my region—will take what he has said very seriously and be in touch with him directly.
We are devolving more control to the frontline and streamlining capital approvals, giving NHS organisations more freedom to invest accordingly and respond to local need, as I have said. That approach should help projects to move forward more quickly, and it is already supporting some investment at Stepping Hill. Some £763 million of funding over the next nine years has been allocated to the north-west region through the estates safety fund, and local leaders have the flexibility to prioritise it as they wish. Stepping Hill hospital will benefit from that funding.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) said, the hospital has been allocated £26 million for a new pathology building through the estates safety fund, protecting the vital testing services that doctors rely on. It is one of 10 major hospital schemes backed by more than £200 million nationally. Alongside that, Stockport NHS foundation trust will receive £17 million to support 11 critical repair projects at Stepping Hill, forming part of the £1.3 billion that we have committed to maintenance, safety and resilience projects over the NHS estate over the next four years.