A 35 PER cent increase in building costs since plans were announced to build a new hospital in Basingstoke has made the programme “even more complex” according to the town’s MP.

Responding to concerns about a delay to plans to build a new hospital in Basingstoke - promised as part of the Conservative’s flagship NHS pledge at the 2019 elections - Maria Miller blamed the slow progress on the pandemic.

As previously reported, plans to build a new hospital for the town were put into doubt because of fears over insufficient funding and rising costs.

Read more: Plans to build new hospital in Basingstoke put into doubt

The project is two years behind a published scheduled timeline, and a public consultation due to take place in January 2021 to help decide between two shortlisted locations has still not been held.

Mrs Miller, who has called for a new hospital for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) for more than a decade, said the delays were because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She told the Gazette: “Basingstoke hospital was built in the early 1970s and needs replacing because it is increasingly costly to run, requires significant repairs and needs to evolve to meet today’s health needs in the communities it serves throughout north and mid Hampshire.

“Rightly, the progress of the national hospital building programme over 2020-2021 had to be slowed due to the pandemic when both the government and NHS were focused on tackling Covid and the vaccine rollout.

“Since 2022 reducing the backlog of patients needing treatment has been the top priority.”

See also: Labour candidate says Basingstoke has been 'let down' on promise to build new hospital

However, she said work on plans for the new hospital continues, led by HHFT with support from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Hampshire County Council, the NHS Integrated Care Board and others.

She added: “A new hospital is one of the biggest investments in local infrastructure. It’s only right that plans are scrutinised closely and that the NHS and government have in place rigorous rules about how taxpayer money is spent.

“The delays resulting from the pandemic are understandable but the team on the ground here in Hampshire are eager to go to the next stage set out by the NHS, which includes an even fuller public consultation to make sure the whole community has an opportunity to have their say, buying the site and securing planning consent.”

She said a 35 per cent increase in building costs since the programme to build 40 new hospitals was announced, along with the cost of the pandemic has “served to make the programme even more complex”.

However, Mrs Miller added: “But the health secretary remains committed to delivering this important programme for the health of the nation.”

HHFT has shortlisted two potential locations for a new hospital – at the current site of Basingstoke hospital in Aldermaston Road and land near Junction 7 of the M3.

Mrs Miller said: “The leader of our council Simon Minas-Bound is working closely with the trust to help ensure the process is smooth going forward.

“I have regular meetings with ministers and HHFT to continue to make the very strong case for Basingstoke and the importance of the health of our community.”