Helen Maguire MP hits out at Government over “shameful” 10-year delay to Epsom, St Helier and Sutton Hospital plans

Helen Maguire, MP for Epsom & Ewell alongside: Dr James Marsh, Group Deputy CEO; Cllr Barry Lewis, Lib Dem Sutton Council Leader and James Blythe, Managing Director, Epsom & St Helier Hospitals.

Epsom & Ewell’s Liberal Democrat MP, Helen Maguire, has today (20th January) slammed the government following the announcement that the new hospital in Sutton will be delayed until at least 2034 with services at Epsom and St Helier hospitals at breaking point.

Helen Maguire joins Liberal Democrat MPs Bobby Dean (Carshalton & Wallington) and Luke Taylor (Sutton & Cheam), local NHS staff and constituents in condemning the Government’s decision, as constituents in Epsom & Ewell face unacceptable conditions - with 14,000 facing A&E wait times of over 12 hours, patients piled into corridors, sinking floors and leaking ceilings.

Patients in Epsom & Ewell have long used both Epsom General Hospital and St Helier Hospital, who both operate under the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The delay follows years of broken promises by the Conservatives and Labour - with Boris Johnson most recently pledging £500m worth of investment that never came. The Health Secretary has now announced that instead construction on the project will be pushed back until 2032-34 at the earliest - with the new project in Sutton falling under their ‘wave 2 scheme’.

Maguire met with James Blythe (Managing Director of Epsom and St Helier Hospitals) and Dr James Marsh, Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer to discuss the devastating impact of today’s announcement with some buildings potentially facing catastrophic failure.

MP for Epsom & Ewell, Helen Maguire, says:

The Government’s announcement today is eerily reminiscent of the contempt that the previous Conservative government held for our area. It is shameful that the Government has kicked the can down the road, whilst patients in Epsom & Ewell continue to suffer from the unacceptable conditions at Epsom and St Helier Hospitals.

More than 14,000 people in Epsom & Ewell face A&E wait times of 12 or more hours, patients continue to be piled into freezing corridors and operations continue to be cancelled and the Government’s decision today shows they simply do not understand the severity of this crisis.

The new A&E hospital in Sutton will ease the incredible burden on our local NHS staff and their patients, however, our two hospitals are in crisis right now and our local NHS staff and their patients cannot wait ten years for construction to get underway.

We have been promised change before and successive governments have let the people of Epsom, Ewell, Ashtead and Leatherhead down. I urge this Labour Government to listen to the calls of our local Lib Dem MPs and healthcare professionals and treat this matter with the urgency our constituents deserve.

When I was elected to be your MP, I promised I would not rest until we get the support for our local hospitals that we so desperately need. I’m proud to have campaigned hard to fix our local NHS services and today’s announcement is the first step on that journey.

I will continue to fight to ensure my constituents in Epsom & Ewell have an NHS that works for them and the high-quality healthcare they deserve.