Derriford Hospital to receive new emergency department following Luke Pollard MP and Fred Thomas MP’s campaign

21st January, 2025

Luke meeting with Derriford hospital staff

Luke Pollard MP and Fred Thomas MP have welcomed the government’s decision to go ahead with the construction of a new emergency department at Derriford Hospital, announced today.

The Plymouth Labour MPs have campaigned “tooth and nail” for the emergency department after its construction was thrown into doubt by the previous government’s unfunded commitments.

The New Hospitals Programme, announced by Boris Johnson in 2020, promised ‘40 new hospitals’ but was delayed by years and not a single new hospital had been constructed by the time the Conservatives left office. Fred Thomas MP previously slammed Boris Johnson for his broken promises about Derriford, demanding an apology for misleading people in Plymouth.

Today’s announcement follows meeting between both Plymouth MPs and the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, to make the case for the importance of safeguarding the emergency department funding.

Mr Streeting visited Derriford Hospital in December to speak with NHS staff and patients, after Fred Thomas MP wrote to encourage him to visit the site to see stretched services first-hand.

Newly elected Fred Thomas MP launched his campaign for the government to give an ‘iron clad commitment’ on a new emergency department from his first week as MP for Plymouth Moor View.

Luke Pollard MP has campaigned for a new emergency department at Derriford since 2018. He has regularly visited Derriford, including for night shifts and to shadow ambulance workers.

Luke Pollard MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said:

“This is excellent news for Plymouth. I have fought tooth and nail for a new emergency department at Derriford since I was elected.

“The Conservatives left the future of Derriford up in the air. Unforgivably, they promised us an emergency department without setting aside the money to build it.

“On behalf of staff and patients, I am delighted that we are in wave one of the government’s hospital programme and have the green light to get on with construction.”

Fred Thomas MP, Member of Parliament for Plymouth Moor View, said:

“Ever since I was elected as your MP, I’ve been fighting hard for a emergency department at Derriford. I know how much people rely on Derriford, and how hard the staff work in challenging circumstances. I’m thrilled that the government have listened to us and decided to give Derriford the ew A&E it needs. I will continue working with the government to make sure this is delivered as quickly as possible.”

Wes Streeting, Labour’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said:

“Since the election, Fred Thomas and Luke Pollard have been banging the drum day and night for Derriford.

“The New Hospital Programme we inherited was unfunded and undeliverable. Not a single new hospital was built in the past five years, and there was no credible plan to build forty in the next five years.

“When I walked into the Department of Health and Social Care, I was told that the funding for the Hospitals Programme runs out in March. We were determined to put the programme on a firm footing, so we can build the new hospitals our NHS needs.

“Today we are setting out an honest, funded and deliverable programme to rebuild the NHS. I am committed to delivering a new Emergency Department at Derriford and to rebuilding our NHS.”