The chancellor said health secretary Wes Streeting would provide “further details” of the review in the coming weeks before it is published next year. This comes against the backdrop of promises of a £13.6bn increase in capital spending on the NHS over the next two years.

A spokesperson for the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria said: “A brief reference was made to the ongoing work of the New Hospital Program (NHP) during the Chancellor’s budget announcement on 30 October 2024.

On 29 July 2024, the Chancellor announced a review of the NHP to ensure it had a ‘comprehensive, realistic and cost-effective timeline for delivery’. Both Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTH) and Morecambe Bay University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UHMB) NHP plans have been confirmed to be under review,

“We understand that the review provides the opportunity to ensure that the national NHP is on the firmest possible basis for delivery and that information from the review is fed into the Spending Review process.

“In the Autumn Budget Statement the Chancellor confirmed that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will announce further details of his review of the NHP in the coming weeks and will publish this in a publication in the new year. However, the published budget report stated that NHP will be delivered on a more sustainable and deliverable basis, and that hospitals will be moved quickly for the reconstruction of hospitals that have been built or are in the process of being built entirely or primarily with AAC. ) – and that the remaining plans (such as those for LTH and UHMB) will be delivered through a continuing program of major investments as part of the government’s commitment to deliver hospital infrastructure investment.

“While the review is taking place and in the period between the conclusion of the review and the verification and communication of the outcome, all plans within the NHP will be supported as appropriate to continue to make progress. We will do so as soon as we are able to communicate further.”

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