Over £2bn of capital funding has been set aside to improve Scotland’s hospitals.
The State of the Estate Report, published today, provides a comprehensive survey of the NHS estate for the first time.
The report will allow a detailed plan to be put together to tackle maintenance costs of £1 billion across the estate. This figure includes over £350 million of work needed in non-medical areas and buildings for sale.
It was also confirmed that £2 billion of capital funding, and £750 million of NPD funding, will be invested in new and existing NHS buildings over the four years of the spending review period. Around £300 million of this money will be spent on directly addressing backlog maintenance.
Record funding of £581 million is being invested in 2012/13 – the highest ever capital investment in one year. This represents a 16 per cent increase on 2011/12.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:
“This report will help us to improve Scotland’s hospitals – and patients will see the benefits of £2 billion worth of new fit-for-purpose facilities across all health boards, renovations to existing buildings and modern equipment.
“For the first time, we have a detailed account of the ongoing maintenance work needed on the NHS estate. This will allow us to set a benchmark from which to work from to continue to maintain our NHS buildings.
“It is vitally important that patients receive the best quality care in settings suitable for their treatment. That is why we are investing more than ever in the NHS estate.”
