New hospital site 'wholly inappropriate', MP says

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hit back at criticism from an MP that the site of a replacement hospital in Surrey is "wholly inappropriate".

Surrey Heath MP Al Pinkerton called for an independent review into the proposed site for Frimley Park Hospital's replacement near Pine Ridge Golf Club during Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions.

But Starmer said it was "thanks to Labour investment" Frimley Park would be one of the first hospitals to be rebuilt and criticised the MP for calling for a new hospital and "then oppose actually building it".

Campaigners previously questioned the site, which was announced in June.

Pinkerton said: "Everyone in my constituency of Surrey Heath wants a new Frimley Park Hospital, but the chosen site, the last remaining fragment of the ancient Frimley Common, is wholly inappropriate.

"It is inaccessible, behind multiple schools, and environmentally devastating."

Pinkerton also claimed a site for the project had been "predetermined" and the process of selecting the site had been "compromised from the outset".

In response to the question, Starmer said: "His hospital, thanks to Labour investment, is at the front of the queue.

"It will be one of the first in the country to be rebuilt. But his approach has been on the one hand to demand a new hospital, and then oppose actually building it.

"He has urged his constituents to oppose it because, this is his quote, 'If the hospital goes ahead, there will be no golf course'".

Frimley Park Hospital was earmarked to be replaced after it was found the current building was made with Raac, a form of concrete which can fail when exposed to moisture.

The Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust said work was set to be carried out "to understand how the site could be developed responsibly".

Environmental concerns had been raised about the site by campaigners, as well as questions about whether the site had enough infrastructure in place to support it.

Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting previously said work would begin in either 2028 or 2029.

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