A PETITION has been launched calling on the government to speed up plans for a new hospital in Basingstoke.

Following delays to the new proposed hospital, the borough's Labour parliamentary candidate David Lawrence has launched the petition calling for the process to be sped up.

As previously reported the construction of a new hospital for Basingstoke will be delayed until the 2030s according to a new report, which said the government will miss its target to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.

Basingstoke is one of eight hospitals in cohort four of the government’s new hospital programme to be delayed until after 2030, despite government promises.

READ MORE: New Basingstoke hospital one of eight projects delayed until 2030s

The news was revealed in a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) which said that the government will fail to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030, as promised when it announced a £3.7bn funding package in 2020.

It said the new hospital schemes promised by the government in 2020 now face ‘substantial delays and will not be completed by 2030, inevitably with implications for patients and clinicians.

Cohort four hospitals, which includes Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), will be delayed until after 2030, when they will form part of a new five-year rolling programme of planned hospital upgrades.

SEE ALSO: £800m awarded by government for new Basingstoke hospital

Mr Lawrence said: "We urge Maria Miller and the Conservative Government to prioritise the construction of a new NHS building that meets the needs of the future for Basingstoke.

“Labour has a plan to create an NHS that is well-prepared for the future, available when people require it, reducing fatalities from major diseases, and fostering a fairer Britain, where everyone can enjoy a longer and healthier life.”

Earlier this year, Alex Whitfield, chief executive of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), which runs Basingstoke hospital, spoke about the “poor condition” of its aging buildings.

She said the trust has the “worst maintenance backlog” in the south east, with ceiling tiles falling down and sewage leaks just some of the problems.

The plan to build 40 new hospitals was at the heart of Boris Johnson’s 2019 general election manifesto, with a £3.7bn funding package later announced for the project.

Basingstoke MP Maria Miller previously said: “A huge amount of work has already gone into the HHFT plans, understandably the pandemic, post-pandemic NHS catch up and vaccine rollout have been challenging for both the government and the NHS locally and nationally.

"It is on account of these factors, that the completion date for our hospital has moved from 2030 to 2032/33.

"The next stage of the process is the public consultation which is due to take place in the autumn and I look forward to encouraging as many people as possible to get involved.

"As part of that, I shall be holding one of my regular ‘community chat’ events on the new hospital plans in November.’’

HHFT has not commented on the delay.

You can see the here action.labour.org.uk/page/132698/petition/1