Full funding for a new, state-of-the-art hospital for Harlow has been confirmed by the Government today as part of a major funding package for NHS hospitals in England. The Government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP) will build 40 new hospitals in England by 2030.
The new Princess Alexandra Hospital will be a world-class healthcare facility for the local area. It will provide the best place to work for staff and deliver first-rate care for patients – transforming health outcomes and addressing health inequality in the growing and ageing local population.
In October 2019, the Government first announced that The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) would receive funding to build a new hospital in Harlow for its patients, community and people. Since that time, PAHT, along with other trusts, has been working closely with the NHP team to develop a framework for the building of all the new hospitals in the national programme, including design, the procurement of contractors, and how to best use modern methods of construction so the new hospitals can be built faster, better and more efficiently.
Whilst the NHP team works on the detail, PAHT is moving ahead with the purchase of the land for the new hospital, and following today’s announcement will be completing the new hospital outline business case.
Hattie Llewelyn-Davies, chair, and Lance McCarthy, chief executive, said: “We are delighted at today’s news by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Rt Hon Steve Barclay, reconfirming that there will be a new hospital for Harlow by 2030. Our many years of hard work and preparation have paid off, and we can push ahead with our new hospital with certainty and confidence.
“We are very excited to be part of the New Hospital Programme and fully supportive of the plans to standardise the delivery of all the new hospitals using the Hospital 2.0 model. We are confident in the huge benefits this approach will bring for our people, our patients and the many communities in Harlow and the surrounding areas.
“It’s a moment to truly celebrate. This is a major milestone in the long journey to our new hospital – one of our five priorities in the trust’s strategy PAHT2030. And we now know with certainty that we will get the world-class healthcare facility our people deserve to work in. A new hospital that will deliver first-rate care for patients – transforming health outcomes and addressing health inequality in the growing and ageing local population.
“We will now move forward with our plans to purchase the land for the new hospital, and following today’s announcement, will be working hard to finalise our Outline Business Case. Throughout, we will be working very closely with the New Hospital Programme and our stakeholders to make sure we are able to deliver the new hospital by 2030.
“Finally, we want to thank our people, our patients, our partners and our local communities for their support in getting us to this point, and for their forbearance whilst we continue to tackle the problems of our ageing hospital estate at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. There is still a long way to go, however the light is definitely at the end of the tunnel for the Princess Alexandra Hospital, and we couldn’t be more excited about the journey ahead.”