Shipley MP meets local hospital staff after new government confirmation of “long overdue” rebuild

Anna Dixon MP for Shipley, last Friday visited Airedale General Hospital in Steeton to meet with staff following the recent confirmation of its long-awaited rebuild by the new Labour government.

During her tour, she engaged with senior staff members, including Chief Executive Officer ‘Foluke Ajayi and discussed the challenges the hospital has faced since the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) on the premises and the vision for hospital services once the rebuild is completed.

Airedale Hospital is one of the worst affected hospitals, with the majority of buildings affected by RAAC. The hospital was initially earmarked for a complete rebuild under the previous government's New Hospitals Programme.

However, in August 2024, the government set up a review of NHS building projects after it was discovered that funding for the New Hospitals Programme was due to expire in March 2025.

In January, the Secretary of State for Health, Wes Streeting, announced that the hospital would be part of the highest priority delivery wave of the new government's hospital rebuild programme, with the main construction of the new hospital at Airedale expected to start between 2027 and 2028, allowing sufficient time for design and planning stages, with a budget of £1 billion to £1.5 billion. Other works to get the site ready are expected before this date, this includes building a new multi-storey car park, access road and electricity substation.

During her visit to the site, Anna Dixon was shown several areas of the hospital that are affected by RAAC and saw first-hand areas that had been made safe. She heard about the skills of the in-house engineering team and heard from staff about how they have had to adapt to continue to provide services to patients despite wards being taken out of action for remediation.

The Labour MP was also shown the sections of the hospital site where the new hospital is proposed to be built.

Speaking at the end of her visit to Airedale Hospital, Anna Dixon said: “The staff and patients here at Airedale General Hospital have had to put up with a shocking level of disruption in recent years, and my visit today just reinforces my relief that we now have clarity over its replacement with a modern state-of-the-art hospital facility.

“I want to thank all the staff for showing me around and for all the work they do to ensure the smooth running of the hospital despite working in a substandard building.

“I am delighted that we now have a funded and deliverable plan to ensure this site gets the new, high-quality facilities that it desperately needs, and which are long overdue.

“I will continue to work with the staff at Airedale and government ministers to support the upcoming rebuild in any way I can. I look forward to seeing the designs in the near future.”

Stuart Shaw, Executive Director of Strategy, Planning and Partnerships, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Anna to the hospital today and show her how we are taking our new hospital forward which will benefit many residents in her constituency.

“After the hospital's problems with RAAC, we look forward to providing them with state-of-the-art services upon the completion of the rebuild.”