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.
Date: 30 September