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Up and down the country, NHS trusts are waiting to find out if their bid to join the New Hospitals Programme has been successful.

Eight more capital projects will be added to the government’s main NHS building programme, with the much-delayed announcement now expected in October.

But HSJ has learned that up to five trusts with outdated and dangerous structures in their buildings will be added to the programme, due to the urgent need to replace those facilities.

These structures, which contain reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete, are found across 16 trusts – though the degree of risk varies.

The trusts with the most significant risks include Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn Foundation Trust, Airedale FT, and Mid Cheshire Hospitals FT.

Therefore, it seems unlikely that these trusts will miss out on selection for programme funding.

However, a final decision has not been made, and the outcome will depend on the Treasury’s view in autumn.

Previously, the government had indicated that several of the final eight schemes would go to mental health trusts, after the sector barely featured in the original list of 40 hospital projects.

That means there won’t be many slots left for other bidders. 

Curb your enthusiasm

The “extreme positivity” of an ambulance trust’s leaders has been criticised by the Care Quality Commission as the trust’s rating was downgraded from “good” to “inadequate”.

South Central Ambulance Service was told its leaders appear “out of touch” to frontline staff and “dismissive” of the reality of their working conditions.

The CQC also said there was evidence of SCAS “attempting to discredit” whistleblowers and that concerns about sexual harassment were “brushed under the carpet”.

Inspectors also said some serious concerns were not being investigated as they should have been, and there was “no evidence of action” on alleviating long ambulance handover delays.

SCAS said it has enacted some immediate improvements and that it is “committed to making things better.” NHS England is also now conducting a governance review of the trust.

Also on hsj.co.uk today

In our expert briefing The Integrator, Dave West says the time when provider CEOs thought they might be allowed to get on with their business unimpeded by integrated care systems has long gone, and in news, we report a warning by NHS leaders that scrapping routine covid tests in hospitals ahead of autumn boosters could downplay how serious the disease still is.