More than £240 million has already been spent on the troubled Monklands Hospital replacement project – but the Scottish Government has still not told NHS Lanarkshire how much it can afford to spend on the new hospital.
Graham Simpson MSP has challenged Health Secretary Angela Constance over the continuing uncertainty surrounding the project, warning that the health board risks spending further time and money developing plans that ministers could reject again.
The Scottish Government abandoned the existing £2.1 billion proposal in June, declaring it unaffordable and ordering a fundamental redesign.
But during questioning at Holyrood yesterday, Mr Simpson revealed that NHS Lanarkshire had told MSPs it had not been given an acceptable budget figure for the replacement hospital.
He warned that the absence of clear financial parameters could result in the health board returning with another proposal that ministers consider too expensive.
Mr Simpson told Parliament: “The cabinet secretary rejected the proposal for the new Monklands hospital, as it was coming in at £2.1 billion, which she said did not represent value for money.”
He continued: “We could end up with a new proposal for a smaller Monklands hospital that, with inflation, comes back at a figure that the cabinet secretary again rejects.”
He then asked the Health Secretary: “Why will she not tell the health board what budget it should be working to?”
Ms Constance acknowledged that it was a fair question but said NHS Lanarkshire needed time to develop revised options before a financial limit could be agreed.
She told Parliament: “In the not-too-distant future, we will have to get clarity on the financial envelope.”
She accepted that ministers and the health board would ultimately need to agree a budget, but said she did not want to pre-empt the current redesign process.
The Health Secretary expects to receive revised proposals by the middle of 2027.
£240 MILLION ALREADY SPENT
The exchange comes amid growing questions over the public money already committed to the hospital project.
According to NHS Lanarkshire, £240 million was spent between April 2016 and August 2026, including land acquisition, site preparation, infrastructure, design, professional fees, engineering studies and project staffing.
The health board says it will seek to make maximum use of that investment as the replacement plans are developed.
However, it remains unclear how much of the expenditure relates to design and development work that will no longer be required following the Government’s decision to abandon the previous proposal.
The amount of public money that cannot be recovered or put to use in the redesigned hospital has not been established.
Meanwhile, the existing Monklands Hospital continues to operate with ageing infrastructure and a substantial maintenance backlog.
FEARS OVER FURTHER DELAYS
The replacement hospital was originally intended to provide modern facilities for patients across Lanarkshire.
Its escalating cost prompted the Scottish Government to reject the full business case earlier this year, despite years of planning and development.
The Government insists that a new hospital will be built at Wester Moffat, retaining an acute hospital and accident and emergency department.
However, the scale of the redesigned hospital, its final cost and its opening date remain uncertain.
During the same parliamentary exchange, Labour MSP Joe Fagan referred to a Scottish Mail on Sunday report suggesting the hospital might not open until 2031 and could be smaller, with fewer services than originally planned.
The Health Secretary reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to a new hospital but said the revised proposals had not yet been received.
Mr Simpson’s questioning raises a fundamental concern about the Government’s approach to the project: how can NHS Lanarkshire produce an affordable replacement hospital when ministers have yet to establish what they are prepared to spend?
With £240 million already invested, a rejected £2.1 billion proposal and another redesign under way, the financial uncertainty surrounding one of Scotland’s major hospital projects remains unresolved.