Luke Murphy says he will keep pushing for a new hospital but warns the previous government’s “never realistic” pledge left it delayed and only “one part” of fixing local healthcare.
He was answering a nurse who works across three hospitals at a recent #StrongerTogetherForum at The Anvil, who asked why the promised hospital was delayed and what else could be done.
Basingstoke’s hospital was promised under the previous government’s 40 hospitals scheme, but ministers said in January 2025 that building would not start until between 2037 and 2039 and would cost about £2bn under Hampshire’s Wave 3 New Hospital Programme allocation, while Hampshire Hospitals has since secured funding to buy land near Junction 7 of the M3 to keep site options open.
Luke Murphy outside Basingstoke Hospital
Mr Murphy said the previous government’s pledge to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030 was never credible.
“The previous government’s commitment to 40 new hospitals by 2030 – I think it’s been shown that it was never a realistic promise,” he said. “It was unfunded, without the resources or a plan to deliver it, and the government took the decision to reorder it onto a realistic trajectory.”
He said he had helped secure the purchase of land to keep the M3 junction site available and would keep pressing ministers.
“I will push as hard as I can to get that hospital,” he said. “Patients and staff deserve it. But I’m not going to sit here and say we can definitely bring it forward, because that promise made by the previous government was never realistic. If we can find the money and the resources going forward, then I absolutely will.”
Mr Murphy said a new building alone would not ease pressure on the hospital, blaming poor GP access for driving patients to A&E.
“Too many people either store up issues because they can’t see a GP, or they’re frustrated because they can’t get an appointment, so they go straight to A&E,” he said. “That’s totally understandable – it’s not their fault. That’s a system that’s broken and needs fixing.”
He linked this to the government’s social care reform plans, saying better GP access and social care investment would ease pressure on hospital wards.
“We help the hospital by fixing GP services, and we help the hospital by fixing social care,” he said. “I’ll continue to fight for the hospital, but it’s only one part of the picture, and there are other things we can do to improve people’s access to healthcare.”
A 2024 consultation found that 52 per cent of residents favoured a specialist acute hospital at Junction 7 rather than the current hospital site.