Surrey Heath MP Dr Al Pinkerton said the proposed new Frimley Park Hospital site is unsuitable
Surrey Heath MP Dr Al Pinkerton said the proposed new Frimley Park Hospital site is unsuitable
An MP has said he was “disappointed” with Sir Keir Starmer’s answer to his question about the site of a replacement hospital in Surrey.
During Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Surrey Heath MP Dr Al Pinkerton said the proposed location to replace Frimley Park Hospital at Pine Ridge Golf Club is inappropriate and called for an independent review.
Starmer criticised him for calling for a new hospital and “then oppose actually building it” and said it was “thanks to Labour investment” Frimley Park would be one of the first hospitals in the UK to be rebuilt.
Pinkerton has written a letter to the Prime Minister saying the response did not “engage” with the “substantive concerns” he had raised.
In the Commons, Starmer said: “His hospital, thanks to Labour investment, is at the front of the queue.
“It will be one of the first in the country to be rebuilt.
“But his approach has been on the one hand to demand a new hospital, and then oppose actually building it.
“He has urged his constituents to oppose it because, this is his quote, ‘If the hospital goes ahead, there will be no golf course’.
“Labour is building new hospitals, and the honourable gentleman is standing up for golf courses…I can’t think of anything more Lib Dem.”
Work on the new Frimley Park Hospital is expected to begin in 2028 or 2029
Work on the new Frimley Park Hospital is expected to begin in 2028 or 2029
In his letter, Pinkerton said: “This has never been about a golf course…nor is it about opposing a new hospital.”
He added that the site is “fundamentally unsuitable” because of the impact on “transport and accessibility” and that the development “would destroy part of the historic Frimley Common.”
The letter went on to say that he “was disappointed that your response at PMQs did not engage with these substantive concerns” and that his constituents “deserved answers, not political point-scoring”.
Pinkerton also raised concerns about transparency on finances, the cost of the works, and the “integrity of the site selection process,” including questions about whether alternative sites had been “properly explored” by the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust.
He called on the government to pause the site selection process, commission an independent review and publish the evidence on how the decision on the location of Pine Ridge Golf Club and the surrounding land was reached.
The BBC has approached Number 10 for further comment.
Lance McCarthy, Chief Executive of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: “A new Frimley Park Hospital will mean safer buildings, modern facilities and an environment that helps our staff deliver the very best care.”
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Related internet links
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
