A new Frimley Trust Hospital has been given the green light to be built by 2030 as part of the government’s New Hospital Programme.

Following an announcement by the government that a number of hospitals within the programme would be delayed, there has been some scepticism by residents as to whether the Frimley Park site could be delivered by the promised 2030 deadline. 

Now that the hospital has been concretely approved, Frimley Trust is inviting patients from across Bracknell Forest and the Royal Borough to give their views about what is most important to them in the future state-of-the-art facility. 

This will start the public engagement part of the process.

Neil Dardis, Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to have been given the green light to build a new Frimley Park Hospital by 2030 as part of the government’s New Hospital Programme, and we can now start an initial period of public engagement into our plans for the new hospital.

“We know how important Frimley Park Hospital is for our patients, our local communities, and our staff and we have a unique opportunity to transform local healthcare for generations to come.”

Frimley Park Trust have said that over the past few months, they have been identifying potential sites for the location of the new.

It is seeking views from patients who currently frequent the hospital on what facilities are the most important for the new hospital and why.

To keep the project on track to open by 2030, Frimley Park Hospital patients have until January 7 2024 to voice their initial views.

The reason that Frimley Park Hospital needs to be replaced is that the current structure was built using deteriorating materials.

This material is called Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and deteriorates over time. The NHS has stopped using buildings made from this material.

The trust has already confirmed that they will be choosing another site in the area close to the existing building to relocate to.

Building a new hospital on the current site would require a phased demolition and rebuild and would cause significant disruption to patients and staff.

A bigger site is set to be chosen for the new state-of-the-art facilities and to allow them to deliver modern healthcare standards.