- Long-term Capital Plan backed by record investment to rebuild NHS buildings, replace ageing equipment and improve patient care.
- Nearly 800 GP surgery upgrades helping unlock an estimated 9 million extra appointments.
- Affordable homes on NHS land to help health workers live closer to the hospitals and communities they serve.
Patients will benefit from faster access to care, more GP appointments, modern NHS facilities and more services closer to home under the government’s new 10 Year Capital Plan, published today.
Backed by a record capital budget for health, rising to £15 billion in 2029/30, the plan sets out how the government will rebuild, renew and modernise the NHS. It replaces years of short-term, stop-start investment with a long-term approach, helping the health service deliver major projects that modernise facilities, upgrade technology and deliver better care for patients.
Government investment has already funded almost 800 upgrades to GP surgeries across England, helping practices create space for an estimated 9 million extra appointments. A further £200 million will help more GP surgeries expand and modernise, helping patients get appointments more easily, receive care closer to home and reducing pressure on hospitals.
The plan also sets out how unused NHS land can be turned into affordable homes for healthcare workers. Nurses, porters, healthcare assistants and other NHS staff will be able to rent homes close to the hospitals where they work, helping them spend less time commuting and making it easier for the NHS to recruit and keep staff in areas where housing costs are highest.
Minister of State for Health Karin Smyth said
NHS patients – and the brilliant staff who care for them – deserve modern buildings, reliable equipment and services fit for the future.
Too many NHS buildings are crumbling and outdated. This government is taking the long-term decisions needed to rebuild the health service.
Our 10 Year Capital Plan backs that ambition with record investment and reforms that will help patients get faster appointments, better facilities, modern technology and more care closer to home for patients across the country.
The investment comes after years of neglect left NHS buildings falling apart. Last year alone, leaking roofs, broken heating systems, electrical faults and other building failures caused more than 4,100 disruptions to patient care, including cancelled appointments and delayed treatment.
To start putting that right, the government is investing at least £6.75 billion over the next nine years to repair hospitals, replace unsafe buildings and tackle the maintenance backlog, reducing the disruptions that can lead to cancelled appointments and delayed treatment.
Hospitals affected by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) will benefit from a £2 billion programme to remove RAAC and keep patients and staff safe.
This plan confirms the government will deliver 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres. Bringing together GPs, diagnostic tests, community and other services under one roof, they will make it easier for patients to get the care they need closer to home instead of travelling to hospital.
Alongside improvements to buildings, the plan invests in better technology across the NHS. This includes improving the NHS App, introducing a Single Patient Record so patients do not have to repeat the same information to different parts of the health service, and replacing outdated systems that keep staff tied up with paperwork, and away from patients.
The government is also making it quicker to get NHS building projects off the ground.
Instead of waiting for repeated Treasury sign-off, projects worth up to £300 million will be approved by the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS. Projects will only need to return to the Treasury if costs rise above £1 billion or their scope changes significantly.
Together with long-term funding settlements, the changes will cut red tape, speed up decisions and help hospitals get on with improving buildings, replacing equipment and delivering better care sooner.
Ownership of more NHS buildings and land will be handed from NHS Property Services to local NHS organisations, giving them greater control over how their estates are managed and developed to meet local needs.
Overall, the reforms will also give construction firms and technology companies a clearer pipeline of future NHS projects, giving them the confidence to invest in people, skills and innovation while helping deliver better value for taxpayers.
The plan also sets out the government’s commitment to research and development capabilities, including a £650 million investment in genomics over the next five years. It supports national preparedness through investment in cyber resilience, biosecurity and the new National Biosecurity Centre, helping to protect the country against future health and security threats.
Sir Ciarán Devane, chief executive of The NHS Alliance, said
Our members will welcome the government’s focus on long-term NHS capital investment. Multi-year funding, faster approvals and investment in GP premises and technology will help NHS leaders continue to plan more effectively, start to modernise facilities, further improve productivity and above all, enhance patient care.
Health service leaders will also be interested in the plans for new neighbourhood health centres and the use of new public-private partnership models. Capital investment across the NHS is vital to delivering the ambitions of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan.
This investment builds on wider reforms already driving NHS recovery. Backed by an extra £26 billion, the NHS has recruited thousands more staff and expanded care in the community. As a result, waiting lists have fallen by over 400,000 since July 2024 and patient satisfaction with GP access has risen to 76%. The NHS is now delivering record levels of elective care, with rising productivity and faster diagnoses, helping put the health service on a sustainable footing for the long term.