New hospital for Basingstoke should be considered 'urgent'

Understandably, residents are sceptical given the history. In 2017, a project to build a new hospital at Junction 7 of the M3 fell through after years of extensive planning and work by Hampshire hospitals.

READ MORE: Funding fears of new Basingstoke hospital as inquiry finds 'no confidence' in project

The promise to build a new hospital for Basingstoke was then part of the Conservative party’s 2019 general election manifesto when they committed to building 40 new hospitals by 2030.

Basingstoke residents and the NHS staff working at our hospital have already been let down by that promise with the announcement that the project has been delayed until after 2030.

It is therefore understandable that people want concrete evidence and a guarantee that these new plans will this time come to fruition and that the money is there. 

Hampshire hospitals has one of the worst backlogs for maintenance and the trust will have to spend millions in the coming years on the deteriorating estate. Surely the new hospital plans for Basingstoke should be considered urgent by the government?

Residents and NHS staff working at our hospital deserve better.

Dame Miller has been calling for a new hospital for Basingstoke for the last decade. Why don’t we yet have one?