Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dodged Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey’s question in today’s Prime Minister’s Questions about the status of the Government’s promise to build a new Royal Berkshire hospital which serves Reading, Wokingham and South Oxfordshire.
It comes as the Lib Dem’s analysis of the Autumn Statement uncovered Jeremy Hunt’s plan to slash spending on hospital buildings and life-saving NHS equipment across the country by 6.2% in real terms.
With the Autumn Statement implying more big cuts to come, Wokingham Lib Dems are demanding to know how this will impact the building of a new Royal Berkshire Hospital, which was promised by the Conservatives in the 2019 General election.
Jeremy Hunt refused to spell out where public service cuts will fall after 2024-25, but the Office for Budget Responsibility document published alongside the Autumn Statement reveals a £6.7 billion (6.9%) real-terms cut in capital spending over the next five years.
The Lib Dems said this implies a £800 million (6.2%) cut in capital spending for health and social care – mainly hospital buildings and NHS equipment – over the next five years.
Clive Jones, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Wokingham said: “The Prime Minister’s answer today was simply not good enough, and is an insult to staff being treated in a crumbling hospital. It’s also not fair to patients who expect to be treated in up to date facilities.
“In the wake of NHS budget cuts, it’s clear that Rishi Sunak and Wokingham MP John Redwood cannot be trusted to deliver our new hospital/deliver urgent repair funds.
“Instead of giving our new Royal Berkshire hospital the reassurance and money desperately needed, Conservative ministers are taking it away and refusing to own up to it”.
Jones added: “The Prime Minister must confirm what this fresh round of NHS cuts will mean for the new hospital that patients in Wokingham were promised.”
