It’s to upgrade infrastructure and improve patient comfort and follows decades of lobbying from MPs, health bosses and the community.
The funding, which will be split with Epsom Hospital, has been announced as part of the Government’s Estates Safety Fund.
Epsom and St Helier’s current maintenance backlog alone amounts to £150million and the hospital trust estimates it will rise by £180m over five years which is the equivalent to £36m per year.
Responding to the news that the Government have announced new funding for Epsom and St Helier hospitals, Sutton’s Liberal Democrat MPs Bobby Dean and Luke Taylor have issued a joint statement, saying the money is “a drop in the ocean”.
The joint statement reads:
“We welcome the Government’s announcement of more funding for St Helier. It shows that our campaigning is working. But this funding is just a drop in the ocean compared to what our area needs.
“The repairs backlog is enormous – and this money will barely touch the sides. We need full repairs at St Helier now, and the new specialist care hospital for Sutton to be delivered as soon as possible.
“The Labour Government’s delay of vital works at St Helier until the 2030s threatens the very existence of our hospital, because key buildings are now at serious risk of catastrophic failure.
“The urgent backlog of repairs and maintenance must be cleared now. The Government must provide the funding for these repairs urgently, or else corridor care and the collapsing estate will mean more patients will suffer.
“We have both continued to engage with the Government at every possible opportunity to get them to understand the urgency of the situation. In one-to-one meetings with Ministers, recent Prime Minister’s Questions, and in briefings on the New Hospital Programme (including one held just yesterday) we have both consistently raised the need to fund the backlog of repairs at St Helier.
“We will continue to lobby the Government and work with the local NHS trust on a new plan to bring forward the delivery of the new hospital building we were promised by the last Conservative Government, protecting vital emergency services at St Helier Hospital.”
Statement from Merton’s Lib Dems.
“Merton Lib Dems welcome the Government’s recent announcement of £12m in funding for St Helier hospital, after years of campaigning for urgent action to address crumbling facilities and dangerously long A&E waits.
“But St Helier’s repairs backlog is enormous, and this funding will barely begin to cover the costs. At a scrutiny meeting with Merton Councillors earlier this year, the NHS reported that St Helier has a repair backlog of £200m.
“Meanwhile, Labour’s plan to delay major works at St Helier until the 2030s puts the hospital’s future at serious risk. Without urgent action, corridor care and failing infrastructure will continue to harm patients.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to act now, by funding full repairs, tackling the maintenance backlog, and bringing forward the construction of the new hospital promised by the previous Conservative Government.”
Merton Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson on health and Cannon Hill Councillor Jenifer Gould said:
“Patients in Merton and across South West London can’t afford to wait for access to safe, modern hospitals.”
“This funding is a start, but will not even begin to cover the essential upgrades needed to bring St Helier up to the standard our community deserves.”
