Following a fresh review, the Government confirmed all previously planned hospitals will be delivered but over a longer time frame of start times extending to 2039.

Hospital projects will be delivered in three further phases, each lasting five years.

Starts on the biggest schemes have been pushed back beyond 2030, which was the original target date for the whole programme when first launched by Boris Johnson.

Schemes already in construction (Wave 0) will continue as planned. The remaining hospital projects will advance in three waves over 15 years.

Wave 1 starting this year includes seven hospitals constructed primarily using RAAC.

Hospital projects destined for later waves will be supported on their development to ensure that they are ready for main construction.

Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary, said the new plan was an “honest, funded, and deliverable programme” to rebuild the NHS.

He added: “The New Hospital Programme we inherited was unfunded and undeliverable.

“Not a single new hospital was built in the past five years, and there was no credible funding plan to build forty in the next five years.”

In May 2023, the previous Conservative government announced that the already revised programme was backed by over £20bn of investment – but this funding was never delivered, says the Labour Government.

Streeting said the New Hospital Programme team would continue to work closely with industry to support construction, develop relationships and secure investment within the supply chain to help deliver cost effectively with repeatable modular design.

Morag Stuart, chief programme officer for the New Hospital Programme, said: “This announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care provides certainty on the next steps for the New Hospital Programme.

“We will continue to work with local NHS organisations to deliver improvements to hospitals across England, including making best use of new technology and improving layouts – and ensuring future hospitals are designed to meet the needs of patients and staff.”

The New Hospital Programme is just one part of the government’s wider commitment to transforming the NHS estate.

Over £1bn has been set aside to make inroads into the existing backlog of critical maintenance, repairs and upgrades, while £102m has been dedicated for upgrades to GP surgeries across England as a first step towards transforming the primary care estate.