Urgent call to invest £67m into a new hospital in Doncaster to provide state of the art care and boost the economy

It is hoped the proposed development would provide state of the art care and boost the regeneration of the economy.

Leaders from across the political divide have joined forces in the cross-party call. The Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, Dan Jarvis, Doncaster’s MPs – Ed Miliband, Rosie Winterton and Nick Fletcher - and the Mayor of Doncaster Council Ros Jones have written to the Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, urging him to bring forward the investment.

The call comes after Doncaster Royal Infirmary was not included in the Government’s announcement, which confirmed funding for 40 hospitals as part of the Health Infrastructure Plan.

The current DRI, originally built in 1930, is in need of major maintenance works worth £67m, and faces significant demand, as NHS workers treat people with the coronavirus. Prior to COVID, the A&E department which was built to manage a peak of 200-250 patients was routinely dealing with 350-400 every day.

A bidding process for a further eight new hospitals will be brought forward, and political leaders have called on the Government to deliver on their promises to level up by ensuring Doncaster is included in the next round of schemes.

Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, Dan Jarvis, said: “As the COVID pandemic has shown us, levelling up is not just about the economy, it’s about the health of our people, and the Government has an opportunity to deliver on its promises. The case for a new central hospital in Doncaster is unequivocal, and health and political leaders in the region are united behind this plan – we now need the Secretary of State to join us.”

Mayor Ros Jones said: “Doncaster not being on the list was not good news and I would ask the Government to tell us directly why we were not included and indeed how we can improve our chances of securing investment in a new hospital in the future. I do want to see more investment and levelling up of Doncaster and the North. Our case is strong as this project would support our regeneration aspirations and should not be overlooked.”

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