New Hospital Programme review update

Published: 28 January 2025

On Monday 20 January 2025 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care gave an update on the outcome of the New Hospital Programme review in Parliament. While critical infrastructure failures and the need for investment in Torbay Hospital has been recognised nationally, we have been informed that our new hospital will be significantly delayed, with our main construction timetable starting between 2033 and 2035.

This news is extremely disappointing as we know that the age and condition of our estate is having an impact on our patients, our staff and our ability to deliver high quality care. We will be looking at all other funding options to bring forward immediate plans to reduce our critical infrastructure risks and improve the efficiency of our current buildings.

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has supported our work and helped to raise awareness of the estates’ issues at Torbay Hospital.

Earlier this month, we shared that we have been awarded £14.2million for improvements to our Emergency Department. Over the last five years we have also been successful in securing funding for new day surgery and eye theatres, an expansion to our Endoscopy unit and our new Acute Medical Unit. Last week, we announced that we have signed contracts for the One Devon electronic patient record with Epic. All these developments are helping us to improve the care, outcomes and experience for people who use our services and our dedicated colleagues and teams.

Chris Balch, Chair, said: “We welcome the announcement that Torbay Hospital remains in the New Hospital Programme, although we are bitterly disappointed at the delayed timetable. While we move through the process to develop our plans to manage our critical infrastructure risks, our hard-working colleagues will continue to work tirelessly to offer the best possible care for our patients.

“We would like to thank everyone who has supported us as we made the case for investment into Torbay Hospital. While we wait for the new hospital construction, we will be exploring all other funding avenues available to manage our estates issues. We remain committed to working together with our staff, patients and local people to deliver the modern hospital that our Torbay and South Devon communities deserve and need.”