Local politicians, NHS leaders, and patients have roundly slammed the government’s decision to delay funding for works until 2032, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter & Marco Marcelline

A potential nine-year delay in rebuilding Whipps Cross Hospital has been roundly slammed by local politicians, NHS bosses, and patients.
The long-promised rebuild, first announced in 2020, will now begin between 2032 and 2034, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said on Monday (20th January).
It was initially slated to be finished by autumn 2026 but this was pushed back to 2030, due to a series of delays with the previous Conservative government’s New Hospitals programme.
The Leytonstone hospital serves around 350,000 people across Waltham Forest, Redbridge, and Epping Forest.
The new hospitals will be delivered in waves, Streeting said. The most urgently needed will be built over the next three years, forming ‘wave zero’. Whipps Cross will be delivered as part of ‘wave two’.
Writing on X/Twitter, Chingford and Woodford Green MP Iain Duncan Smith said: “This is an appalling decision that will undermine the morale of our local NHS staff and is a severe blow to the people who rely on Whipps Cross as their main hospital.”
In parliament on Monday (20th January) Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy called for an “urgent meeting” with ministers and MPs who represent constituents who use Whipps Cross in a bid to “look at how to get shovels back in the ground quicker”.
She later took to Facebook to say she “won’t stop fighting for Whipps Cross to be rebuilt and neither should anyone else”.
The news was also called “devastating for our community” by Waltham Forest Council leader Grace Williams.
The Labour councillor said: “It has now been well over five years since the upgrade was first announced – the business case has been agreed, and planning permissions have been granted. However, no firm commitment or funding from the previous government appeared.
“We welcome this government setting out its commitment to the programme, but it is deeply disappointing that patients and staff will have to wait to benefit from the world-class services they deserve.”
Cllr Williams added that the town hall’s plans to build 1,500 “much-needed new homes” in the area had also been “put back several years,” and the delays would add “extra costs” to the project.
Thousands signed the council’s ‘Whipps Won’t Wait’ petition after the hospital was damaged by flooding in 2021, and Cllr Williams said they would be “frustrated after years of delays and disappointed”.
She said a new Whipps Cross Hospital was her “greatest priority” and “cannot wait any longer”.
The council leader added: “This project should be prioritised as one of the most urgent hospital upgrades and commence as soon as possible.
“Patients and NHS staff deserve nothing less.”
Cllr Williams has requested an “urgent meeting” with Streeting, who has pinned the blame on the Tories and their “unfunded” promise of new hospitals.
Responding to the announcement, group chief executive of Barts Health NHS Trust Shane DeGaris said: “The announcement of a significant delay to the redevelopment is deeply disappointing for Whipps Cross Hospital, our staff, and the local people we serve.
“With construction already under way on the first of two new car parks, our existing planning permissions and the potential for the redevelopment to unlock up to 1,500 new homes, we believed we had a very strong case to proceed at pace with finalising our plans for a new hospital.
“With the start of construction now delayed until 2030 at the earliest, we will seek urgently to understand from national colleagues what this means for both delivery of the new Whipps Cross and for the funding of the current hospital to ensure it is fit for our wonderful staff to continue to provide the highest quality care and treatment for local people.”
A new 500-space multi-storey car park is currently being built for the future hospital and is expected to be finished later this year.
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