Government on track to break Boris Johnson’s ‘40 new hospitals’ promise

National Audit Office research finds delays and lack of value for money, and that only 11 projects are wholly new builds

The government is on track to break a key election promise from Boris Johnson to build 40 new hospitals in England by the end of the decade, a damning report by the public spending watchdog has found.

Delays to projects mean the target is unlikely to be met, with work on buildings in the second cohort of the scheme yet to have started as of May, according to the National Audit Office.