Mark Thatcher is a bit of a blast from the past!
The National Audit Office report on the '40 new hospitals & upgrading another 70' is interesting - and worrying.
Changing definitions of 'new' hospitals' to include new wing or a new clinical building.
Failed to keep precords explaining how new projects were chosen.
32 hospitals to be built not 40. 18 underway but running late and well over budget.
DHSC asked for £21.3 bn - was given £18.5bn and therefore they had to move to lower specification buildings to save money.
They are using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete which isnt suitable for buildings after 30 years.
Large parts of the building work pushed back to late 2020's risking escalating costs.
Risk that hospitals too small to serve their communities - using unrealistic data.
Expectation of 95% bed occupancy - NHS England aims for 92% to prevent operations being cancelled. 95% occupancy considered indicative of a crisis.
So delayed, not cost effective and too small.
Pretty damning.