Promise of much-needed new hospital in Milton Keynes was 'work of fiction' by the Tories, says Health Secretary

The Conservatives announced in May last year that the £200m funding to build the “world class” hospital had been firmly secured and the facilty would be open before 2030.

It would ease the pressure on the main hospital by bringing together maternity, paediatric and obstetrics services all under one roof and guiding women through pregnancy and birth and then looking after their health of children as they grow.

But this week the new Labour government’s Health Secretary has claimed this pledge was a “work of fiction” and the funding for it is soon due to run out before a single brick has been laid.

He has branded the situation a “total disgrace” and demanded the Tories issue an apology to the people of MK who are forced to put up with long waiting lists and mammoth waits in A&E at the currently overstreched Milton Keynes University Hospital.

The present building opened in November 1984 to meet the demand for a district hospital in the community. However, as the population of the new city has rocketed, the hospital’s size and funding has not increased accordingly and it has struggled more and more to meet the extra demands.

Labour’s new MK North MP Chris Curtis described the long waiting times in A&E to the House of Commons this week.

He said: “One of the moments I will never forget before the last General Election is turning up at Milton Keynes Hospital with my 92-year-old grandmother, who we suspected of having a heart attack, only to be told the waiting time on average, at that moment, was 9.5 hours.

"We have some of the longest waiting lists in the country in Milton Keynes,” he added.

Health Secretary, Wes Streeting MP, who visited the hospital with Chris earlier this year, replied with sympathy, saying: “I share his anger and his constituents’ anger..We were told there was a pla, we were told there was a timetable, and we were told the programme was fully funded. And then we came into Government to find the timetable was a work of fiction and the funding runs out in March”.

Mr Streeting praised MKUH for its “incredible work” and innovation it shows against the adverse conditions. But people are owed an apology from the Tories, he said.

And he promised: “We will not play fast and loose with people’s trust. We will come up with a “credible, acheivable and funded” plan for the upgrade.”

Meanwhile Chris Curtis said: “I’m so angry that the health of residents in our city has been put at risk by the complete incompetence of the previous Government making promises they had no plans to deliver.

“Fixing the state they left our local NHS in is my top priority. I will fight tooth and nail to ensure our city and its residents get the health facilities they need and deserve.”

The city’s previous Tory MPs, Ben Everitt and Iain Stewart, admit the funding for the women and children’s hospital is “uncertain” – but they insist the new Labour government is to blame.

The project has been put at risk by Labour “putting a halt to the plans” and putting the funding at risk, they say,

The former MPs are even promoting a petition, drawn up through Milton Keynes Conservative, to urge the government to keep the funding in place.

The petition states: “We need your help to put pressure on the Labour Government and our Labour MPs to keep funding in place for a new Women and Children's Hospital for Milton Keynes.”

It can be viewed here.

Watch Chris Curtis addressing Parliament about the hospital here.