Sewage leaks and ops delayed - life at hospitals awaiting rebuild

It should not have been like this. Back in September 2019, there was delight at the hospital when it was announced at the Conservative party conference that a new hospital would replace the existing one.

Hospital bosses were soon predicting the doors at the new site would open in 2024 as Boris Johnson promised England 40 new hospitals, including upgrades of existing sites, in his 2019 election manifesto.

But by 2023 the planned finish date for Princess Alexandra had slipped to 2030 - and this week it became one of 18 hospitals to be told there rebuilds would be delayed even further in an announcement on Monday, which largely slipped under the radar as attention was focused on the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president.

Construction work on Princess Alexandra will now not start until 2032 at the earliest. In the meantime, the hospital has no option but to limp on.

Meanwhile, Sam Higginson, the chief executive of Royal Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, says he is "deeply disappointed" that the redevelopment of his North Devon District Hospital may have to wait until 2038.

"For us that's too far in the future," he says. "There is a limit how long we can run that infrastructure for and we are right at that limit."

He says he would be seeking money from NHS England and the government to try to keep the operating theatres and A&E running as best they can, warning otherwise the drive to tackle the hospital waiting list could be hit.

The government has said it is committed to the projects. But, as they will all now slip into the next Parliament and, as such, there is no money yet committed to cover the costs, there is real concern behind the scenes about whether this timetable can even be kept to.

"They've kicked us all into the long grass," says one NHS leader, who wished to remain anonymous. "A commitment to do something in 10 years' time is almost meaningless."

Matthew Taylor, head of the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, says he understands such concerns, adding: "They feel let down."

And he says the government will need to take into account how compromised the NHS leaders are with their dilapidated estates when it comes to judging their performance in the coming years.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has firmly laid the blame at the Tories door, accusing them of leaving an "unfunded and undeliverable" hospital building programme for him to pick up.

This has been disputed by the Tories, who accused Labour of breaking promises and simply deciding not to prioritise the schemes.

The Liberal Democrats believe both parties have a case to answer. Health and care spokeswoman Helen Morgan says the public had been "led up the garden path" by the Tories, while accusing Labour of "dither and delay" and treating those affected with "complete disrespect" for trying to bury the news on the day of Trump's inauguration.

But Siva Anandaciva, of the King's Fund health think-tank, says the problems run far deeper than just these 18 delayed projects - and the others that have already been finished, started or approved for this decade.

He points out the backlog in repairs and maintenance across the entire NHS has been growing for years as capital spending budgets for buildings and equipment have been squeezed.

"The scale of the crumbling NHS estate is far wider than the rebuilds on the new hospital programme," he says.

"Much of the mental health estate is some of the oldest within the NHS and it is estimated one in five GP premises pre-date when the NHS was formed in 1948."

This lack of investment, he argues, is a "false economy" as it results in poorer patient care and hampers NHS productivity.

But it is not just the health service that is affected. A report published this week by the NAO pointed out other parts of the public sector are affected too, with school, court and prison buildings all struggling with maintenance backlogs too.

The sewage leaks and equipment failures at the likes of the Princess Alexandra Hospital and other sites awaiting rebuilds are just the tip of the iceberg it seems.

Data visualisation by Hannah Karpel