Hospital's maintenance bill could hit £400m

Maintaining an ageing hospital site that will need to be used for at least another decade, could cost £400m, its chief executive has said.

Parts of the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) in Reading are nearly 200 years old but a £2bn plan announced on Monday to rebuild it on a new site will not start until at least 2037.

Steve McManus said the timescale outlined by health secretary Wes Streeting was "extremely disappointing" but that he was pleased the government recognised the hospital needed to move.

Streeting said patients were "right" to be disappointed by the timetable for work at hospitals around the country but that the previous government had "no credible plan" to fund it.

Mr McManus told BBC Radio Berkshire: "We are very disappointed at the delay. I think it certainly is not serving our patients, our residents or our staff in the way that we expected.

"Clearly our window for a new build of 2037-9 – being three parliaments, two more elections away – is of serious concern."

He said £123m was spent over the last five years maintaining the RBH site.

"Nearly 70% of that has been simply about backlog maintenance and we have still got currently over £100m [of work], which is just to keep the state of the buildings up to standard," he added.

"When we're looking into the future over the next 10 years, that backlog maintenance cost is going to be close to £400m."

Yuan Yang, Labour MP for Earley and Woodley, said she was glad the debate over whether the hospital would be rebuilt on its current site or elsewhere had been settled.

"The government has said there will be a £2bn earmarked cost for building an entirely new hospital on a new site.

"That puts to bed a lot of the uncertainty that there was floating around over the last four years," she added.

"The confirmation that we will get a new hospital on the new site is really important."

On Monday, Yang was in the House of Commons chamber to hear the health secretary's announcement, along with fellow Labour Reading MPs Matt Rodda and Olivia Bailey.

Bailey invited Streeting to visit the RBH and the health secretary accepted.

Newbury's Liberal Democrat MP Lee Dillon, who is currently 42, told the Commons he will be celebrating his 60th birthday when the new RBH is due to open.

Dillon asked what plan the government has to ensure money is in place for maintenance ahead of the new hospital opening.

Streeting said the "phasing of the programme" meant work would be affordable.

"We would rather be up front about the length of time and in the meantime ensure we are delivering the investment and reform needed to reduce waiting times and improve primary, community and social care services," he added.

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