Many NHS buildings and facilities are unsafe, of low quality, and provide poor and inefficient levels of care because of lack of investment, the government admitted today.
In a review of NHS capital spending, the government admitted that NHS care is often compromised because vital medical equipment is not of a high enough standard, is too old, and takes too long to be replaced.
Many GP surgeries and health centres are "too small and cramped to provide modern primary care", said the report, published by the Department of Health (DoH). Four out of five primary care premises are "below the required size" and 14% are "in cramped conditions". Three out of every five GP premises are over 30 years old, it estimated.
The poor standard of NHS buildings and equipment means that much of it is "not suitable for the purpose it is meant to serve". The cost of raising the condition of the NHS to what it calls a "safe and functional level" is £3.4bn.
Health minister Alan Milburn today launched a three year investment strategy aimed at addressing the problems by increasing spending on new hospitals, medical equipment and family doctor premises.
Mr Milburn said the strategy would improve access to care and reduce waiting times for treatment, deliver improvements in care in priority areas such as cancer, and make facilities more efficient and patient friendly.
The government intends to invest over £1bn over the next five years to reduce the £3.4bn backlog bill for essential renovation and maintenance to £2.1bn.
The investment will be partly financed by selling off surplus NHS land and buildings. NHS surplus estate has a value of £1.58bn, according to government valuations. This will be sold off over the next six years.
A legacy of underinvestment in NHS facilities throughout the 1990s is blamed for the problems. Each NHS trust needs to spend an average of £71 for every square metre it owns to bring facilities up to scratch.
"Capital investment has been on a drip feed basis with each hospital receiving small amounts of capital resource," said the report. "This history of piecemeal development has led to a patchwork quilt estate, where hospitals mix and match old and inefficient estate with modern facililities."
