Wes Streeting was criticized yesterday for delaying the Conservatives’ new NHS hospital program by at least a decade.
The Health Secretary was accused of using Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration to “bury bad news” and break another Labor election promise.
It means patients will face years more of misery in old, dilapidated hospitals, some with leaking roofs and crumbling walls and ceilings.
Former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged in 2019 to build 40 new NHS hospitals across England by 2030.
But the dire state of the country’s finances means some will not begin construction until 2039, Streeting told MPs.
He accused the Conservatives of failing to fund his plan, saying it had been “built on the fragile foundations of false hope.”
Setting out a new timetable, Streeting said construction of the new hospitals would take place in four “waves”, with the final part not starting until between 2035 and 2039.
The first wave is already under construction and will be completed within the next three years.
Wes Streeting was criticized yesterday for delaying the Conservatives’ new NHS hospital program by at least a decade.

Streeting said construction of the new hospitals would take place in four “waves”, with the final part not starting until between 2035 and 2039.

Former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged in 2019 to build 40 new NHS hospitals across England by 2030.
These include four hospitals in Dorset, the Cedar Program in the north-east, Oriel Eye Hospital in London and the National Rehabilitation Center near Loughborough.
Streeting said the new schedule was “honest, funded and actually achievable.”
Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat’s health and social care spokeswoman, said the Conservatives had “blatantly” made promises about the plans that they had no intention of keeping.
He added: “Now this administration is using Trump’s inauguration day in a botched attempt to bury bad news, showing outrageous disregard for patients.”