Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

NHS Buildings: Maintenance Backlogs

Tuesday 17 June 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Helen Maguire highlighted the 150 million maintenance backlog at Epsom and St Helier university hospitals NHS trust.
  • The Minister acknowledged the challenges faced by the trust and mentioned meetings with local MPs to discuss the issues.
  • Joe Powell noted that Imperial College healthcare NHS trust has the largest high-risk repair backlog in the country.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Helen Maguire Lib Dem Epsom and Ewell
NHS
Context

The current repair backlog at Epsom and St Helier university hospitals NHS trust is £150 million, with recent funding of £12 million seen as insufficient.

Question

While I welcome the recent announcement of £12 million of extra funding for Epsom and St Helier university hospitals NHS trust, it is quite frankly a drop in the ocean in comparison with the scale of need, because the current backlog at the trust costs £150 million. Patients and staff deserve safe and modern facilities, not patchwork repairs. I therefore ask the Secretary of State to meet with me and visit Epsom and St Helier hospitals to see at first hand the scale of the challenge and how we can accelerate progress.

Answer from Wes Streeting

I absolutely appreciate the challenges that the hon. Member describes, having met with the trust myself. The Minister for Secondary Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth) and I have both met with local MPs about the challenges facing Epsom and St Helier. Lord Darzi’s investigation found that the Conservatives left a £37 billion black hole in NHS capital. We are reversing that trend, with the largest-ever capital budget for health. The £12.1 million for Epsom and St Helier trust for estate safety is in addition to the £207 million of capital that the NHS South West London integrated care board is receiving, including for maintenance backlogs. It will take time, but brick by brick Labour is rebuilding our NHS.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not commit to meeting with Helen Maguire or visiting Epsom and St Helier hospitals specifically to address the scale of challenges and accelerate progress.

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Q2 Joe Powell Lab Kensington and Bayswater
NHS
Context

The Imperial College healthcare NHS trust has the largest high-risk repair backlog, and a new St Mary’s hospital is needed to solve the problem.

Question

The Imperial College healthcare NHS trust has the largest high-risk repair backlog in the country. The support from the Government estates safety fund is very welcome, but to solve this problem we ultimately need a new St Mary’s hospital. Will the Secretary of State join me in praising the work of the new three-year St Mary’s taskforce, which aims to get to full planning consent and explore different financing models so that we can finally get this hospital built?

Answer from Wes Streeting

I thank my hon. Friend for the work that he and my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake) are leading in partnership with the trust and Westminster city council to ensure that the people of his constituency have the hospital they deserve. As he knows, this will be the most complicated scheme in the new hospital programme, but that is no excuse for the years of delay that the scheme has faced. The trust now boasts the biggest high-risk repair backlog in the country, so my hon. Friend is right to ensure that this is not allowed to be put in the “too difficult” pile again. We look forward to engaging constructively and doing everything that we can to expedite the progress that is desperately needed for his community and our city.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not explicitly join the MP in praising the work of the new three-year St Mary’s taskforce.

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