Torbay MP Kevin Foster has welcomed today’s (Thursday 25 May 2023) statement on the New Hospitals programme which reconfirmed the Conservative Government’s commitment to delivering a new hospital for our bay.
The Government has announced it will release £50m of funding for enabling works to prepare the Torbay Hospital site for the major rebuilding work scheduled to start in 2027/28. The enabling works include modular blocks to keep existing services operational during construction of the new buildings and site clearance works.
At the heart of the new hospital programme plan for Torbay Hospital is a new build ward block to replace the original Hospital buildings which date from the 1920s. A new build elective centre for planned treatments and a complete refurbishment and reconfiguration of the Emergency Department are also planned. The eventual cost of the project is expected to be more than £350m, making it the largest single project for South Devon’s NHS since the creation of the NHS back in 1948. Construction work is expected to finish in 2030, with the new hospital buildings due to open in 2031.
Alongside preparation for the major rebuild, other projects to develop new facilities at Torbay Hospital are progressing, with a £15m project to build new Operating Theatres and a £2.8m investment in a new Radiotherapy Suite currently underway. These follow the opening of Torbay Hospital’s new £15.7m Acute Medical Unit in December 2022.
Torbay’s Conservative MP Kevin Foster, who has championed the Hospital Project and raised it at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, said: “This is a once in a generation chance to transform our health service and deliver a landmark scheme for our bay which will see hundreds of millions of pounds invested. I have been pleased to work with the team at the Trust to help secure this latest funding commitment and look forward to continuing my work with Ministers to get the new hospital our bay deserves.”
The new Conservative Leader of Torbay Council, Cllr Dave Thomas, said. “This is fantastic news for our health service and local economy. I can pledge the new Conservative Administration at Torbay Council will work with our MPs, NHS and Government Ministers to support getting this project delivered.”
You can read more about the Plans on the Torbay South Devon NHS Foundation Trust website by clicking here.
