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New hospital opening date delayed by another year

Clare Wordenin King's Lynn
News imageClare Worden/BBC Lesley Dwyer sits in a grey fabric covered chair. She has short blonde hair, and is wearing a patterned orange and pink jacket with flowers on it. Clare Worden/BBC
Prof Lesley Dwyer said her team would "absolutely" be in the new hospital providing care by 2033

Delays to the national hospital rebuild programme are being blamed for the timeline for a new Norfolk hospital slipping by a year.

A new-look Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn, Norfolk, was due to open in 2032, with the current site suffering for years with crumbling concrete.

But Prof Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group, confirmed at a stakeholder meeting that work was now expected to be finished in 2033.

The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment. It previously told the BBC it had "confirmed a sustainable funding plan and an achievable timetable" for the projects nationally.

News imageShaun Whitmore/BBC Aerial view of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn. It is a sprawling grey building surrounded by trees and roads. Shaun Whitmore/BBC
The new hospital is expected to cost £1.4bn and be funded by the government

Dwyer said the local team was doing everything it could to make sure the new hospital opened as soon as possible.

Work has begun on a new multi-storey car park on the site, which will free up land to create the new building.

She encouraged local people to take part in a survey to shape the services that will go into the new site.

News imageClare Worden/BBC A room of people sitting on chairs. They are facing two men who are speaking at podiums. Behind them is a large display screen in the centre. Clare Worden/BBC
The focus of the stakeholder meeting was on the performance of the current hospital

The QEH is one of two Norfolk hospitals scheduled to be rebuilt, as part of the national scheme.

A new-look James Paget Hospital in Gorleston-on-Sea is also now scheduled to open in 2033.

The revised timeline for the QEH was met with dismay from some of the 100 people attending the annual stakeholder meeting on Thursday night.

Rob Colwell, Liberal Democrat county councillor whose Gaywood North Bank ward includes the hospital site, said he was "in shock".

"First of all it was from 2030, then 2032, then we find out today it's 2033," he said.

"There's going to be questions here about how long we're going to be waiting."

Conservative North West Norfolk MP, James Wild, added: "The car park will be completed by December and then ground works can start on the new hospital.

"They need to be getting on with it - it doesn't take six years to build a hospital."

News imageA close-up of a prop attached to wooden plank, attached to a ceiling in the hospital.
The condition of the QEH is declining, and in some areas props are needed to keep the ceilings in tact

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