Guidance

New Hospital Programme review: terms of reference

Published 20 September 2024

Applies to England

Purpose

The review aims to consider the options for putting the New Hospital Programme onto a realistic, deliverable and affordable footing. The review has been requested by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and will be jointly led and resourced across the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and HM Treasury (HMT).  

Governance and arrangements

The review will be led by the Director for Delivery, Performance and Assurance in the DHSC New Hospital Programme sponsor team, along with senior colleagues from the NHS England delivery team and HMT. A steering group, including representation from HMT, Cabinet Office and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), will be convened to oversee the review, directed by the senior responsible owner for the New Hospital Programme, the Chief Financial Officer in NHS England, the Director General for Finance in DHSC and senior officials in HMT, reporting to the Permanent Secretary of DHSC. The review will conclude as soon as possible and will be submitted to the Secretary of State for DHSC and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for consideration.

Scope of the review

The review will assess the appropriate schedule for delivery for schemes in the New Hospital Programme in the context of overall constraints to hospital building and wider health infrastructure priorities, while also looking at where improvements can be made. Out of scope will be schemes that have approved full business cases, and any associated phases that have specific commitments. The review assumes these will continue to their current delivery timelines. Also out of scope will be the critical 7 hospitals with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which will proceed at pace due to the substantive safety risks associated with these.

In scope will be all remaining hospitals in the New Hospital Programme without full business case approvals for their main build phase. The review will present a full range of options to be taken forward for the overall size and ambition of the programme to provide a clear approach for the programme going forward.

The review will feed into the spending review process, where decisions on the outcome will be taken in the round and the government will confirm the outcome of the review as part of that process.

Approach to the review

Key data will be collated for each of the hospitals falling within the scope of the review, including criteria around clinical outcomes, deliverability, cost and estate condition. Data will be drawn from existing sources where possible. Where the information is not held, or not up to date, further data may be requested from NHS trusts or regional teams.

The hospitals in scope will be prioritised according to the criteria. The review will look at the possible timelines for delivery for each scheme, along with clinical considerations, risk and cost profiles and present a range of options to be taken forward. Options and recommendations for phasing of the programme will then be established for ministers to consider.

The recommended options for scope, size and phasing will be supported by confirmation of the optimum approach for delivery, underpinning clinical assumptions and the associated commercial strategy.   

Deliverables

The review will conclude as soon as possible, with a series of options agreed by officials in DHSC, NHS England, IPA and HMT.

List of schemes in and out of scope of the review

In scope of the review

Scheme name Trust
Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, north-west London Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Derriford Emergency Care Hospital, Plymouth University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
Eastbourne District General, Conquest Hospital and Bexhill Community Hospital East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Hampshire Hospitals Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Hillingdon Hospital, north-west London The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Kettering General Hospital Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Leeds General Infirmary Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Leicester General Hospital Royal Infirmary University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Milton Keynes Hospital Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
North Devon District Hospital, Barnstaple Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
North Manchester General Hospital Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust
Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) and Nottingham City Hospital Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Lancaster Infirmary University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Preston Hospital Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Shotley Bridge Community Hospital, Durham County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, Sutton Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust
St Mary’s Hospital, north-west London Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Torbay Hospital Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
Watford General Hospital West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Whipps Cross University Hospital, north-east London Barts Health NHS Trust
Women and Children’s Hospital, Cornwall Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

Out of scope of the review 

Where a scheme name is followed by “(RAAC)”, below, this indicates hospital schemes with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which will proceed at pace due to the substantive safety risks associated with these.

Scheme name Trust
Airedale General Hospital (RAAC) Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
Alumhurst Road Children’s Mental Health Unit, Dorset Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust
Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester Dorset County Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Frimley Park Hospital (RAAC) Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Hinchingbrooke Hospital (RAAC) North-West Anglia Foundation Trust
James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth (RAAC) James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Leighton Hospital (RAAC) Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Poole Hospital, Dorset University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn (RAAC) Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Dorset University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
St Ann’s Hospital, Dorset Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust
West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds (RAAC) West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

Out of scope - to be completed 

The 4 hospital schemes below are out of scope of the review and will continue to be supported to complete main construction or any remaining phases. Note that these hospital schemes were in the later stages of development prior to the New Hospital Programme being announced - this government does not therefore consider them to have been wholly delivered by the programme.

Scheme name Trust
Brighton 3Ts Hospital (remaining phases to continue to completion) University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
CEDAR Programme (remaining phases to continue to completion) Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) (In construction – will continue to completion) Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Oriel Eye Hospital (In construction – will continue to completion) Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Out of scope - completed 

The 5 hospital schemes below have completed construction and are either open to patients or soon to be open to patients. Note that, with the exception of the Dyson Cancer Centre in Bath, these hospital schemes were in the later stages of development prior to the New Hospital Programme being announced - this government does not therefore consider them to have been wholly delivered by the programme.

Scheme name Trust
Dyson Cancer Centre, Bath Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Greater Manchester Major Trauma Hospital (GMMTH) Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (Expected to open to patients 6th October 2024) Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Northern Centre for Cancer Care North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Liverpool Hospital Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust