£760m of capital funding allocated

In November’s Budget, the chancellor announced £3.5bn in new capital funding over five years. This was divided into three lots – £2.6bn for STPs; £700m for trust turnaround and maintenance; and £200m to support efficiency programmes.

The funding allocated today – totalling £760m – will be handed to one large sustainability and transformation partnership scheme and 39 smaller projects. Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin STP will receive £300m to transform hospital services – developing an emergency care unit and a separate elective care site, with 24-hour urgent care centres at both locations. Health and social care secretary Jeremy Hunt promised at least one large-scale project of similar size would be funded each year.

The rest of the money will be given to 39 projects, including a new health and wellbeing centre in Kent, two new urgent care centres in Newton Abbot and Torquay and £6m to upgrade services at eight trusts in Yorkshire.

Mr Hunt said £150m would be released to support efficiency schemes, including energy efficiency projects in hospitals that could save the NHS £12m a year in the first three years.

He added that the government was backing the NHS with one of the largest capital programmes in its history as it approached its 70th anniversary. ‘Further major projects are also under consideration across the country and we intend to announce one large scale scheme the size of the Shrewsbury and Telford plan every year going forward based on high-quality plans coming forward from local NHS leaders.’