Revealed: only 10 of Boris Johnson’s promised 40 new hospital projects have planning permission

Conservatives on course to break flagship NHS pledge as cost of replacing crumbling wards and operating theatres soars

Only a quarter of the 40 hospital construction projects that were at the heart of Boris Johnson's 2019 general election manifesto have secured full planning permission, the Observer can reveal, amid angry claims from NHS figures that there is no chance the schemes will be delivered on time.

Ministers have repeatedly claimed that the hospitals will be delivered by 2030, despite concerns from health chiefs and economists that woefully insufficient" funding and rising costs will scupper the plan and put NHS capacity at risk.