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<p>On Sunday 29 September, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care formally
announced the next stage in our strategic investment in the National Health Service,
with the Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP) to ensure that our health infrastructure
is fit-for-purpose for decades to come. On Wednesday 2 October, the Prime Minister
then set out his plan that “in the next ten years we will build 40 new hospitals in
the biggest investment in hospital infrastructure for a generation.” As a step towards
this, we have committed funding for six new hospitals as well as seed funding to support
the initial stage of a further 34 building projects.</p><p>The package of funding
includes:</p><p>- £2.7 billion for six new hospital projects to be delivered in our
first phase of major hospital rebuilds (HIP1);</p><p>- £100 million to support for
21 major projects (£5 million each) comprising 34 hospital sites go to the next stage
of developing their plans to be delivered in the second phase of major hospital rebuilds,
subject to business case development and future spending reviews. Other projects will
be able to bid into this and other future waves too. (HIP2); and</p><p>- £200 million
investment for state-of-the-art MRI, CT and breast cancer screening machines, to update
or replace our most out of date diagnostic equipment, across over 80 trusts.</p><p>The
Health Infrastructure Plan also outlines our plans for a new system for ensuring funding
reaches the frontline when and where it is needed, with national infrastructure to
support this, and clear accountability for how it is spent. These plans include proposals
for assisting trusts, including allowing some access to early funding and streamlining
the business case process.</p><p>As part of our rolling investment programme, we have
confirmed that there will be future phases of the Health Infrastructure Plan, with
opportunities for the NHS to put forward further new hospital projects for the next
phases of the programme. We also recognise that there may some more schemes suitable
for investments that are not currently part of HIP1 and HIP2. These should continue
developing their plans and priorities for local NHS infrastructure, and where exceptionally
strong schemes come to light before HIP3, we will consider these in the context of
available funding.</p>
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