Row erupts over 'broken Derriford Hospital promises'

Plymouth's new MP is demanding an apology from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson over alleged 'broken promises' made concerning the funding of a new Accident and Emergency department at Derriford Hospital.

Fred Thomas, who took over the seat of Plymouth Moor View from Conservative's Johnny Mercer, said he has written to Boris Johnson concerning the 'New Hospitals Programme'.

He said Derriford Hospital was included in Boris Johnson’s ‘New Hospitals Programme’, announced in 2020 but noted that the new Labour Government has launched a review of the scheme, after announcing that only a fraction of the funding needed to secure the scheme was allocated by the last government.

Johnny Mercer, the former Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View, announced in early 2023 that Derriford Hospital had secured £180million for the first phase of the redevelopment of the emergency department. In July 2023 he insisted the rebuild would go ahead despite a public spending watchdog the National Audit Office suggesting the government would miss its target to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.

Fred Thomas, the new MP for Plymouth Moor View, has written to Boris Johnson saying "it is now clear that only a fraction of the funding needed existed". Mr Thomas wrote: "Derriford has the UK’s longest ambulance handover delays, crowding in the emergency department, and insufficient space to provide care. The hospital has declared five critical incidents this year. The need for a new A&E remains clear, and I am campaigning strongly for it."

Mr Thomas said he has committed himself to continuing to campaign for a new emergency department at Derriford, but warned he had to be honest with the public about the challenges that remain.

He told PlymouthLive: "I have written to Boris Johnson to demand an apology so that we can start being honest with the public about this scheme".

"However, my campaign will also be honest with the people I represent about the scale of challenges we face. These challenges are inherited from a legacy of Tory neglect. You cannot unbreak a promise. But you can apologise for misleading and letting down the community of Plymouth and the staff at Derriford."

In recent weeks, Conservative MP for South Devon, Rebecca Smith has rounded on the new chancellor Rachel Reeves claiming she had thrown the future of the new Urgent and Emergency Care Facility into doubt with the announcement of the New Hospital Programme Review. She claimed Mr Mercer's "crowning achievement" was to secure the £180m government funding for the project and claimed that "the Labour Government are toying with cancelling it."

She has gone on to launch a petition which she says she intends to present before Parliament to safeguard the new Urgent and Emergency Care Facility.

She recently stated that removing Derriford from the programme would be "a blow to the gut for every health worker and patient in the South West which relies on it" adding there was a "clear strong local opposition to these cuts."

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