PRESS-RELEASE - Stepping Hill Hospital latest - no cash to help pay for repairs

Stating "constrained" public finances, Health minister Karin Smith said they could not afford to foot the £130m bill to refurbish Stepping Hill Hospital.

A recent report found about 70 per cent of the hospital site, which is visited by half a million patients a year and has some parts dating back to1905, was in need of major repairs. An outpatient department was condemned at the site in 2023 and subsequently demolished, while the intensive care unit was closed due to roof leaks.

Local Liberal Democrat MPs Tom Morrison (Cheadle) and Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) have urged the government to rethink the refusal and said work on the site was "essential". The pair had written to health secretary Wes Streeting, calling for urgent action and support over the poor state of Stepping Hill when they were newly elected in July.

It is estimated the hospital, which is run by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, faces a maintenance backlog of about £134m, and the £14m given to trust each year is not enough to deal with the problems across the site.

Councillor David Lomax

Spokesperson for High Peak Liberal Democrats