The NHS estate is in an increasingly decrepit condition, but the Department seems unable to make timely decisions to address these problems. The NAO report found that the cost of tackling outstanding maintenance work on the NHS estate has now reached £9 billion, up from £5 billion seven years ago. Alongside this, there are long delays in making decisions on capital programmes. For example, staff and patients at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King’s Lynn have been waiting for years for a deci...

The NHS estate is in an increasingly decrepit condition, but the Department seems unable to make timely decisions to address these problems. The NAO report found that the cost of tackling outstanding maintenance work on the NHS estate has now reached £9 billion, up from £5 billion seven years ago. Alongside this, there are long delays in making decisions on capital programmes. For example, staff and patients at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King’s Lynn have been waiting for years for a decision, now expected later this year, about whether it will be part of the new hospitals programme. At present the hospital has 3,000 timber and steel supp Type: recommendation | Number: 5 | Response status: accepted Government response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation progress against the strategy, it suggests that these updates are provided to the Committee as necessary rather than annually. The government also notes that whilst details concerning decisions that affect c