Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and the New Hospital Programme
*LATEST UPDATE* 10 May 2024 – Michael had a further telephone call with the interim Chief Executive of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust for an update on the progress of finding a location for the new hospital.
3 May 2024 – Following the departure of Neil Dardis, Michael had an introductory telephone call with the interim Chief Executive of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Caroline Hutton.
November 2023 - Frimley Health Trust has begun its initial period of public, staff and stakeholder engagement into its plans. During the past few months, the Trust has been identifying potential sites for the location of the new hospital, and during Michael's visit to Frimley Park last month, he expressed his hope that the new hospital will remain in Surrey Heath.
The Trust is now asking patients, local people, stakeholder partners and staff to provide details on what they feel is most important to them when thinking about the site for the new state-of-the-art replacement for Frimley Park Hospital. This feedback will help shape the evaluation criteria the Trust is developing to assess viable sites, together with other commercial and value-for-money considerations.
People have until 7 January 2024 to share their views about the site evaluation criteria to ensure the project stays on track to open by 2030. More information is available on the Trust’s website, including how people can get involved, details of upcoming events and drop-ins, and an online questionnaire. Please visit: https://frimley.ntropydata.co.uk/frimleynewhospital to find out more.
Shortly after this initial consultation closes, Michael will be meeting the Chief Executive again, so please do share with any thoughts or concerns you may have by emailing: [email protected]
October 2023 – Michael visited Frimley Park Hospital on 13 October, and he had a tour of the site and also observed a surgeon performing cutting-edge robotic surgery on a patient. He posted the following Facebook update regarding a location for a brand new Frimley Park Hospital:
“During my visit, I first had a very helpful catch up with the brilliant leadership team, Chief Executive Neil Dardis and Director of Communications and Engagement Carol Deans, who relayed just how well the hospital has been performing.
We discussed potential locations for a brand new Frimley Park Hospital, following the funding that was granted earlier this year through the Government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP). As many constituents will know, Frimley Park Hospital has been affected by problems relating to Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), and extensive work has been required to keep the affected buildings safe and in use, and that’s why I backed the Hospital’s bid to the NHP. I was able to have the opportunity to look closely at the areas affected by RAAC, and I am thrilled work is well underway to find a location in Surrey Heath for a new state-of-the-art hospital.”
September 2023 - Michael received a letter from Lord Markham, which is attached below, informing him that funding is due to be released in the 2023/24 financial year to develop business cases for the purchase of the site required for the new hospital.
May 2023 – Michael was delighted to learn that following his ongoing correspondence with Neil Dardis and the Department for Health & Social Care, the Health Secretary announced that Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust’s bid to the New Hospital Programme for funding to build a brand new Frimley Park Hospital has been successful. Michael is so pleased that the hard work of everyone involved in pushing this bid over the line has paid off, and that vital local healthcare services are now guaranteed to be safeguarded for generations to come. You can read more about the announcement in the letter from the Health Secretary below.
April 2023 – Following Michael's correspondence from February, he received a further response from Lord Markham, which you can find below.
March 2023 – Michael contacted neighbouring MPs, James Sunderland and Leo Docherty, regarding a joint letter to the Health Secretary to once more voice their total support for the Trust’s bid. You can read the letter below.
February 2023 – Michael responded to Lord Markham’s reply from January 2023 with further information regarding the need for a brand new Frimley Park Hospital, expressing once again his wholehearted backing for the Trust’s bid to the New Hospital Programme.
January 2023 – Michael had a virtual meeting with Mr Dardis to discuss what further action would be taken to secure these longstanding and much-needed infrastructural changes. Having written once more to the Health Secretary, Michael received the below response from Lord Markham CBE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Health & Social Care. Whilst the response disappointingly offered little certainty as to when he will receive concrete news, Michael had another catch up with Mr Dardis to discuss further action.
November 2022 – Michael had a further catch-up with Mr Dardis to discuss the redevelopment of the Hospital.
October 2022 – Michael wrote again to the Health Secretary to ask for an update following his correspondence from July.
July 2022 – Michael had a virtual meeting with Mr Dardis who explained that following external quantity surveying assessments, a report was to be submitted to the Department for Health and Social Care to suggest that it was likely the elimination of RAAC works would in fact have to be completed by 2030. In light of this new information, and given the Hospital was still awaiting an outcome for its bid to join the New Hospital Programme, Michael wrote once more to the Health Secretary to reinforce the need for this funding as soon as possible.
February 2022 – The Health Secretary responded regarding the support for Frimley Park Hospital. A copy of the reply is attached below.
January 2022 – Following additional information from Mr Dardis, Michael wrote to the Department for Health and Social Care in support of the Hospital’s Expression of Interest.
November 2021 – Michael held a further meeting with Mr Dardis who explained that Frimley Park Hospital was built using Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), and such buildings now require extensive work to keep them safe and in use. Hospitals have to eliminate any RAAC from buildings by 2035, and around 65% of Frimley Park Hospital’s buildings contain damaged RAAC. The Hospital submitted an Expression of Interest to the Department of Health and Social Care’s New Hospital Programme, requesting £1.26 billion of funding for a new Frimley Park Hospital.
February 2021 – Michael received a response from the Health Secretary, and a copy of the reply is attached below.
September 2020 – Following further correspondence, Michael wrote to the Health Secretary to explain the serious issues the Hospital is facing with its infrastructure, and asked if it can receive the emergency funding it needs through the Government’s Health Infrastructure Plan.
July 2020 – Michael visited Frimley Park Hospital and had a meeting with the Chief Executive, Neil Dardis, who raised the issue of the Hospital’s need for substantial infrastructural improvements to its buildings, many of which were built in the 1970s.
A&E waiting times
In July 2022, Michael had a catch-up with the Chief Executive of Frimley Park Hospital, Neil Dardis, and discussed the issue of A&E services at Frimley Park. Mr Dardis explained that there has been a significant recent surge in demand, and this combined with staff sickness had led to a great deal of pressure on the Hospital’s A&E Department.
More broadly, NHS England and Improvement announced steps to help the NHS prepare for Winter 2022/23, by increasing hospital bed space and increasing the number of NHS 111 and 999 call handlers. In particular, NHS will increase the number of general and acute beds by 7,000, which will include new hospital beds and virtual wards where patients will be treated at home with NHS equipment or assistance.
The Government also committed to urgent action to free up beds and reduce long waits in accident and emergency through the £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund. An additional £200 million has been allocated to help the NHS buy up beds in the community, so that thousands of patients can be safely discharged from hospital. This will help free up hospital beds so that people can be admitted more quickly from accident and emergency to wards, reducing pressure on emergency departments.
The Government has published its Urgent and Emergency Care Plan alongside an investment of £1 billion to deliver 5,000 more hospital beds compared with the numbers originally planned for 2022-23, and to put over 800 more ambulances on the road. This will speed up discharge from hospitals, free up beds for patients needing urgent and emergency care and, ultimately, reduce pressures on hospitals.
