It's been five years of promises

The long-awaited rebuild of North Manchester General Hospital has still not been given the green light by the government after nearly five years of promises. Hospital leaders have expressed frustration after years of preparation to finally begin rebuilding the crumbling Victorian hospital.

The update follows the news Work The government's announcement of a complete review of the New Hospitals Programme which commits to creating 40 new hospitals. The plan was set out by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson after he promised during a campaign visit to North Manchester General Hospital in end of September 2019 to completely transform the Crumpsall site.

Sources close to the multi-million pound North Manchester project have told the Manchester Evening News Previously, hospital directors were confident that the hospital's reconstruction would continue, partly because so much planning and preparatory work had already been done that they considered the transformation ready to begin. But now, hospital directors are still complaining of further delays.

LEARN MORE: We were promised a rebuild of North Manchester General Hospital years ago. Can it now be cancelled?

North Manchester General has been chosen as one of the sites in the running for a major overhaul. Preliminary work on the site has been underway since at least 2022, with planning on paper having been underway well before that date.

A new car park is now operational on site to accommodate the needs of construction workers and the influx of patients who will come once the rebuild is complete. Fencing lines a section of the Crumpsall site, separating a section reserved for construction workers who are on site. Several hospital departments have also been relocated and reorganised to ensure that demolition can begin as soon as final government approvals are granted.

According to the MEN, all the planning and work already done will reduce the time needed to rebuild a hospital by about 18 months. But the final government permits have not yet been obtained, which is further complicated by the passage of the Conservatives who has pledged to implement this policy within a Labour cabinet focused on rebalancing the books.

At their board meeting in September, the University of Manchester's leaders National Health Service The North Manchester General Hospital Foundation Trust (MFT) has spoken of government silence over the green light being given.

Work on North Manchester General Hospital continues, we still have no final confirmation of a green light or budget [were looking for]we heard at the meeting. It is frustrating, but we are working collaboratively with our partners and our national teams, including the Treasury, so we will be in a very good position if we get the green light.

In late June, Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled a series of budget cuts, accusing the previous Conservative government of hiding a $22 billion black hole in public finances. The cuts included a complete overhaul of plans for 40 new hospitals unveiled by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, many of which have not materialized.

Ms Reeves said only one new project had opened to patients since Mr Johnson committed to doing so, and construction had only started at six other sites. The review would result in a detailed, realistic and costed delivery schedule, the chancellor said.

Even before Mr Johnson's visit, new proposals had already been put forward for a massive transformation of 500 sq m of the site into a new health campus, which the former Conservative prime minister welcomed.

At the time, it was unclear how much public money would ultimately be made available for North Manchester. In the years since, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, has drawn up multi-million pound plans for a major redevelopment, but has spent years waiting for a decision from central government on the project. In October 2020, it was announced that the hospital would be one of 40 hospitals in the UK to share a share of a $3.7 billion NHS cash injection.

But in March 2023Theatres were forced to close for six weeks after a ceiling collapsed. Gorton MP Afzal Khan demanded answers about the progress of the urgent renovation and Health Secretary Steve Barclay told him in the Commons he would meet Manchester Council leader Bev Craig.

In May of that year, the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that North Manchester General Hospital remains among the large-scale projects that will receive part of an increased funding package now totalling $20 billion to complete its construction by 2030. But the MFT still needs government approval to determine how much money it will receive for the rebuild.

This 2030 completion date has been met with some scepticism after years of slow progress. Yet in August 2023, the man in charge of the project, Lord Nick Markham, visited North Manchester General to tell the MEN that the government was ready to go with the promise of completely transforming the siteHe said a 2030 timeline was realistic, with plans for Hospital 2.0 to be finalized by this spring and an approximate start date of 2025 for “major works.”

Construction of a new 980-space multi-storey car park and cycle lane began in February 2022, after the fund secured an initial $54.2 million in funding from the New Hospitals Programme. An additional $14.8 million was subsequently secured to enable preparatory works for the rebuild.

At the end of last year, the trust was working on submitting a full business case to ensure it got the right amount for its ambitious plans – and the government was expected to approve it in time for the 2025 start date. However, since then, a general election has taken place and a new government is in power.

Plans for the North Manchester General Hospital site are set to transform the area, including building homes, creating education and wellbeing centres and creating jobs. Last week, the MEN reported how North Manchester has one of the highest rates of horrific disease in the countryoften caused by poverty and pollution. The Manchester borough has one of the highest rates of children being hospitalised for severe asthma, with areas in northern Manchester being worst affected.