In February 2024, the Gazette launched a campaign to Build Our Hospital, backed by political leaders from across Basingstoke.
The town was promised a new hospital in 2020 as part of the then Conservative government’s New Hospital Programme.
READ MORE: Gazette launches campaign to ‘Build Our Hospital’
But since then, the project has faced delays and setbacks and is now in limbo while a review takes place, the outcome of which will be published in 2025.
Now, The Basingstoke Gazette is calling for the government to make a firm commit to building a new hospital for the town.
Our hardworking NHS staff are working in crumbing buildings that are no longer fit for purpose, and millions of pounds is being wasted on maintenance every year. Hospital staff and residents who live in Basingstoke deserve better.
Hampshire Together – the team behind the new hospital project – said the town’s hospital buildings are ‘at the end of their usable lives’ and that the quality of care is impacted because of the duplication of services at Basingstoke and Winchester hospitals, with resources ‘spread too thinly’.
It has also reported that, despite the efforts of hard-working staff, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) struggles to ‘consistently meet national best practice standards for staffing in key areas of care including maternity services, neonatal care and critical care’; operations are often cancelled at short notice; and waiting lists are increasing.
Basingstoke’s previous MP Maria Miller made false promises that funding of up to £900m was already allocated for the rebuild of Basingstoke hospital – a claim that turned out not to be true.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised Basingstoke constituents during the election campaign that the Labour government was committed to building a new hospital for the town, telling the Gazette: “We’ll get the hospital built.”
SEE ALSO: ‘Urgent’ review of new Basingstoke hospital project will not be published until 2025
For five years Basingstoke has been promised a desperately-needed new hospital.
Now, we are calling for the government to honour these promises and commit to urgently building a new hospital for Basingstoke with a clear timeline and funding allocated for its delivery, so that Hampshire Together can take the next steps to building our new hospital in 2025 and the people of Basingstoke can be assured that it will definitely happen.
You can sign our petition here calling Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, to act now change.org/p/demand-health-secretary-fulfils-promise-of-a-new-hospital-in-basingstoke