Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday during a debate on hospital maintenance and sustainable funding, Rebecca lamented the Government’s decision to postpone building the planned Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Sutton until at least 2030 – 35 and called for the project to progress now.
Criticising the Government’s decision to postpone construction, Rebecca said:
“It was so very disappointing to learn earlier this year that the planned Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Sutton - a long-standing New Hospital Programme scheme that was carefully conceived to address the very issues I have mentioned – has been delayed to the point that work will now not even begin until 2030-35, with opening not until 2037 at the earliest.
“The new hospital at Sutton will consolidate emergency care into one state-of-the-art facility, deliver world-class treatment, faster access to care and safer outcomes. At the same time, it will allow for major investment at Epsom and St Helier Hospitals - helping to modernise crumbling buildings, improve planned care pathways, and ensure that most services remain close to home.”
Challenging the Government to bring construction forward, Rebecca commented:
“I passionately believe that the new hospital at Sutton is a once in a generation chance to overhaul primary care provision and ensure that my constituents receive the high-quality healthcare they deserve in a timely fashion.
“To be very clear Madam Deputy Speaker - the trust is ready to move forward. Clinical consensus has been secured. What is now urgently needed is commitment from the Government to drive the programme forward.
“After all, patients and staff alike deserve better than to spend another decade or more in facilities that are not fit for modern healthcare delivery. They deserve to know that promises made through the New Hospital Programme will be honoured, not quietly shelved or endlessly deferred by this Government.”
Urging the Government to review the decision to delay the new hospital, Rebecca concluded saying:
“I urge Ministers, in the strongest possible terms, to look again at the decision to delay the Sutton Emergency Care Hospital - and to provide the long-term certainty the trust needs to proceed, not in 2035, but now.”
