New figures reveal nearly £56m needed to fix hospitals in Somerset

£55,802,201 is needed to clear Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s hospital maintenance backlog and repair crumbling buildings, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found.

Meanwhile, the part of the NHS which covers hospital buildings is facing a £700 million cut.  

The small print of last week’s Autumn Statement revealed the savage cut to the Department for Health’s capital spending budget next year, which is used for buildings, facilities, and infrastructure.

Nationally the cost of the repairs backlog has been revealed by the NHS estates review as an astonishing £10.2 billion. It comes alongside news that the NHS waiting list has hit 7 million people, with 56,513 people stuck on waiting lists across Somerset.

Somerset Liberal Democrats are calling for the Chancellor to halt his plans “to make patients and staff pay” for the Conservative government’s “economic mess”. They propose urgent investment in local hospital buildings to ensure they are safe and can function effectively. 

The greatest backlog in the Somerset NHS Trust area was at Musgrove Park Hospital where repairs will cost £53,856,892.

Other notable Somerset hospitals and facilities affected include:

• Rydon, Taunton - £123,347
• Burnham-On-Sea War Memorial Hospital - £130,021
• Williton Hospital - £297,799
• Crewkerne Hospital - £321,500
• Chard Hospital - £361,803

Cllr Adam Dance, Liberal Democrat Lead Member for Public Health, Equalities and Diversity on Somerset County Council, said:

“Somerset’s hospitals are falling apart at the seams.  I meet people all the time who are worried about the conditions their loved ones are being treated in. Now the government wants to make patients and staff pay for their economic mess and are cutting the budget to make these essential repairs. Somerset deserves so much better.

The chronic state of disrepair in our local hospitals is not only a scandal in itself. It is also a symptom of this Conservative government’s dire mismanagement of our NHS. People here have had enough of record GP, dentist and ambulance waiting times. They’ve had enough of outdated and decaying hospital equipment. 

The fault lies squarely at the feet of Conservative ministers. It is their inaction and their disinterest which has led us to this disastrous point. They should lay out a plan to recruit the staff we need and to remove these repair backlogs immediately, not just more damaging and dangerous cuts."