Rebuilding King's Lynn hospital 'inevitable', MP warns Government
Government ministers have been urged to properly fund a rebuild of Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital now, rather than having to find emergency money to hold up its "failing building".
The warning was delivered by North West Norfolk MP James Wild during Treasury Questions in the House of Commons today.
Mr Wild said he welcomed funding for the government's hospital building programme which was set out in last week's Budget and Spending Review.
But he also highlighted the condition of the QEH, which currently has around 200 props holding up its roof.
He said the site "has a compelling case to be one of those new schemes.
"Given the inevitable need to rebuild the Queen Elizabeth, does my Honourable Friend agree that itβs far better to have a properly funded new hospital using modern methods of construction rather than it being an unplanned cost with emergency funding constantly needed to prop up this failing building?β
The QEH is currently bidding to be included among an additional list of eight hospitals earmarked for reconstruction, after missing out on the government's initial list of 40 last year.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Clarke, said he would have further discussions on the issue "if that would be useful", but highlighted that the process of selecting the hospitals to receive funding was being led by the Department of Health.
The QEH, which bosses have described as the "most propped" hospital in the country, submitted separate bids for single phase and multi-phase redevelopment respectively, to the Department of Health in September.
A decision on whether it will proceed to the next stage is expected this autumn.
