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Kettering General Hospital rebuild could face delays, MP warns

BBC Kettering General HospitalBBC
Kettering General Hospital has been awarded £396m but the money was in two different funding streams

The £400m redevelopment of a NHS hospital could face delays unless two separate projects are combined, an MP has warned.

Kettering General Hospital was awarded £46m for a new urgent care hub with £350m to follow for refurbishment.

Philip Hollobone, the town's MP, said the money should be released earlier so the work can happen at the same time.

Heath minister Edward Argar said it was not an "appropriate approach" but did want work to start as soon as possible.

Kettering General Hospital was awarded £46m for the new urgent care hub in 2019, while the £350m for redevelopment was part of a £3.7bn funding for hospitals announced by the prime minister last year.

HoC Philip HolloboneHoC
Philip Hollobone said the urgent care hub had to be redesigned to fit into the hospital redevelopment

Mr Hollobone told the Commons that Kettering's A&E was "one of the most congested" in the country.

'Not beyond the wit of man'

He said the money announced last year meant the hospital wanted the new urgent care hub to be part of the wider redevelopment.

The Conservative MP said there should be a "dovetailed approach to already made spending commitments" and, without it, "the promised investment faces potentially serious delays".

Kettering General Hospital
Kettering General Hospital's A&E department was built to accommodate 100 people a day, but now regularly has 300 patients

Mr Hollobone said the hospital would need £6m from the £350m to begin work, which "isn't beyond the wit of man".

'Pen-pushers and accountants'

He added combining the money would provide "value for money for the taxpayer" and get the project started "sooner rather than later".

HoC Peter BoneHoC
Peter Bone, MP for Wellingborough, said the project to rebuild Kettering General had been going for more than 6 years

In response Health Minister Mr Argar said the government had "shown flexibility and have agreed to mesh the two projects together".

But he said: "Deciding the funding level for a project of this scale at this early stage in the process before full design, exploration and scoping is complete would not be the most appropriate approach".

Earlier in the Commons, Conservative MP for neighbouring Wellingborough, Peter Bone, urged the health secretary to "get the pen-pushers and accountants to sort out the delay so we can get on with it".

Matt Hancock said he would meet Mr Bone, Mr Hollobone, and Tom Pursglove, MP for Corby, to "make sure we can get this project moving as soon as we can".

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