Guidance

Health Infrastructure Plan: selection process for the next 8 new hospitals

Updated 5 June 2023

Applies to England

The government is now launching the next phase of implementation of its Health Infrastructure Plan.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) invited expressions of interests from NHS trusts in England who wished to be considered for inclusion in this next wave of the programme, identifying a further 8 new hospitals to deliver on our commitment to fund and build a total of 40 new hospitals by 2030. Together with 8 pre-existing schemes which have been included in the national programme, these 48 hospitals represent the biggest hospital building programme in a generation.

This is the first of a 2-stage selection process, starting with an ‘expression of interest’ phase which is open to all trusts. It will be followed by a more detailed process for long-listed schemes later in the year. We aim to make a final decision in spring 2022. This process will also inform the ongoing pipeline of investment through this programme, subject to future funding settlements.

We are committed to an open and robust selection process, which supports our ambitions to Build Back Better, including through:

  • better and smarter use of our NHS infrastructure – improving outcomes for people using services by supporting joined up, person-centred care and a positive, effective working environment for NHS staff, in line with the ambitions outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan

  • fairer allocation of investment and efficient use of public resources – levelling up investment across regions and across healthcare services, with emphasis on mental health trusts as a key priority cohort for investment in this phase of the New Hospital Programme; ensuring the programme delivers value for money for use of the limited national public funding envelope available

  • stronger and greener NHS buildings – investment to tackle safety risk, increase productive use of space and build resilience within the NHS estate, making the most of modern methods of construction to support sustainable, greener and efficient design

All NHS trusts who considered their proposals to meet the criteria for a ‘new hospital’ (acute, mental health or community) were invited to submit a short expression of interest (EOI) if they would like to be considered in the programme. This EOI will be a simple, outline summary of the scheme, designed to gather evidence on the range and scope of bids in the pipeline. A standardised, simple approach will support a level playing field and reduce excessive NHS resource being dedicated to initial bids. To increase fairness, we will consider their bids in sector cohorts. We are particularly keen to receive applications from trust types currently under-represented in the new hospitals programme, such as mental health and community trusts.

Trust EOIs will be considered alongside a broader range of evidence to support longlisting and to pave the way for more detailed discussion and feedback during the later selection stage. EOIs will provide the headlines on the scheme aims and benefits. This will then be combined with analysis of estates, financial and quality metrics from existing official datasets – as signed off by trust leaders – and information from regional leaders on local system priorities, in order to identity a longlist for consideration in the second phase of the selection. The subsequent, more detailed selection phase is likely to be launched by early next year.

Selected projects will be delivered through a national model within a limited financial envelope, with a high degree of internal standardisation, using modern methods of construction and close working with the programme team to ensure that the full potential benefits of involvement in the programme are realised in the hospital plans. By expressing interest, trusts are confirming that they are willing to follow the programme’s model.

This is a process for new hospitals only. It does not cover upgrade schemes which do not meet new hospital definition (this can be found in the expression of interest template). Subject to the outcome of future spending rounds, a separate process will confirm further capital investment opportunities.

Trusts were invited to submit a completed expression of interest form to futurenewhospitals@dhsc.gov.uk by midday on 9 September 2021.

Please note this mailbox is only for template submissions and/or questions from trusts relating to this stage of the process. Any other queries should be routed to the DHSC correspondence centre and media queries to our press office.

You can find further information about the government’s planned investment in new hospitals and upgrades of health facilities.