Ministers accused of ‘secret fire sale’ over NHS land with 31% increase in last year

By Harriet Line10th September 2018News EnglandGovernment / Politics, Hospitals, News England, NHS

Ministers have been accused of driving through a “secret fire sale of valuable assets” as Labour Party research suggested the amount of NHS land put up for sale had risen by almost a third in the last year.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth (pictured) said patients would be “alarmed” at the “huge rise” in the amount of health service land under consideration for sale.

Analysis by the party showed 1,750 hectares were listed – an increase of 31% in the last year.

Over two years, they found the amount of land for sale had risen by 320%.

Mr Ashworth said: “With hospitals crumbling in desperate need of repair and renewal the Government must provide the capital investment our NHS now clearly is crying out for, rather than forcing financially stretched hospitals into a fire sale of assets.

“Patients who want good local hospital services will be alarmed at this huge rise in the amount of NHS land being put up for sale.

“Hospitals are struggling to cope with years of cutbacks from the Tories. The answer should be a serious long-term government-funded investment plan, not selling off the NHS’s family silver.

“What’s more with details withheld for so many of the sites for sale, it simply adds to the sense that this Government is driving through a secret fire sale of valuable assets.

“All this uncertainty and rumours of deals behind closed doors are clearly not good for the long-term sustainability of the NHS.

“Ministers must provide the capital funding that the NHS needs in the Budget this autumn, so that hospitals can start tackling the huge repair backlog they face and invest in the future equipment and technology which modern patient care demands.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “As part of the long term plan for the NHS we are committed to making taxpayers’ money go further, including getting the best use out of the land and buildings the NHS owns.

“We are helping trusts dispose of surplus land or buildings so that money is saved and spent instead on improving patient care, whilst freeing-up space for much needed new homes, including for NHS staff.”