Budget for 40 new NHS hospitals faces real-terms cut of £700m, say Lib Dems

Capital budget of 12bn a year to shrink to 11.7bn, putting Tories' claim 40 hospitals in England will be built or renovated in doubt

Plans by the government to construct and renovate 40 hospitals in England could be delayed because of new analysis suggesting the health and social care department's capital spending budget faces a real-terms cut of 700m next year, according to the Liberal Democrats.

With some hospitals said to be in dire need of repair, the health secretary twice refused to say on Sunday that the NHS was functioning properly and instead admitted it was under severe pressure".