MPs challenge Government over Stepping Hill exclusion

The failure to include Stepping Hill Hospital on the New Hospitals Programme – despite the looming £130 million repair bill – has been challenged by local MPs Lisa Smart and Tom Morrison in a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting. 

The New Hospitals programme has pushed back the delivery of urgently needed buildings across the UK. Despite a litany of incidents at Stepping Hill, with buildings demolished over safety concerns, doctors wading through flooded corridors, and light fittings crashing out of the ceiling in a delivery ward, Stepping Hill now seems to have been pushed even further down the pecking order by the Government.

Tom Morrison MP said: “This is unacceptable. The so-called ‘New Hospital Programme’ has been riddled with delays, confusion, and broken promises – ignoring hospitals that desperately need investment. Stepping Hill deserves better. 

“Patients are being treated in failing buildings, and staff are struggling under impossible conditions. I will not stop fighting until our community gets the healthcare it deserves.

The MPs are still waiting for a response from Minister Karin Smyth for a formal meeting to discuss the issue. The MPs asked for a meeting in early November, and have chased a formal response.

Lisa Smart MP added: “The legacy of the failed Tory Government hangs over this decision, but that is not an excuse for this taking so long. We are not getting enough answers from Ministers or clarity over future funding.

“The solutions are clear. Patients deserve better than closed doors.”

Mark Hunter, the leader of Stockport Council, added: “Parts of Stepping Hill Hospital are literally falling down, and the situation is totally unacceptable. We deserve better from central government, and I repeat my invitation to the Secretary of State to come and see for himself the dire circumstances which our dedicated doctors, nurses and patients are having to tolerate.”