STATEMENT: Helen Maguire MP responds to £12m Government funding for Epsom & St Helier Hospitals

Responding to the Government’s announcement that Epsom & St Helier Hospitals will receive £12 million in funding under the Estates Safety Fund: 2025 to 2026, Liberal Democrat MP for Epsom & Ewell, Helen Maguire said:

“The Government’s announcement of more funding for Epsom & St Helier Hospitals shows that our campaigning is working, but this funding is quite frankly a drop in the ocean compared to what our hospitals need.

“The current repairs backlog at Epsom & St Helier alone amounts to £150 million – so £12 million will barely touch the sides. We need full repairs at Epsom & St Helier now, and the new specialist care hospital to be delivered as soon as possible.

“The Labour Government’s delay of vital works at St Helier until the mid-2030s threatens the very existence of St Helier, because key buildings are now at serious risk of catastrophic failure.

“The urgent backlog of repairs and maintenance must be cleared now. The Government must provide the funding for these repairs urgently, or else corridor care and the collapsing estate will mean even more of our constituents will suffer.

“I, and my Liberal Democrat colleagues Bobby Dean MP and Luke Taylor MP, have continued to engage with the Government at every possible opportunity to explain just how urgent the situation is. In meetings with Ministers, Prime Minister’s Questions and Parliamentary debates, we have all consistently raised the need to fund the backlog of repairs at St Helier.

“We will continue to lobby the Government and work with the local NHS trust on a new plan to bring forward the delivery of the new hospital building we were promised by the last Conservative Government, protecting vital emergency services at Epsom & St Helier Hospitals.”