A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London
NHS trusts are to lease unused land to housing developers to build homes for staff, ministers announced today, as the health service struggles to recruit workers priced out of areas with high housing costs.
Nurses, porters and other NHS employees will be able to rent the properties, with most offered at discounted rents, though some will be let at market rates, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
Trusts will retain ownership of the land itself.
The scheme, part of the government’s 10-year capital plan for the NHS, will begin with pilot schemes before any wider rollout.
The plan also commits £6.75 billion over nine years to tackle a maintenance backlog standing at a record £15.9bn, plus £200 million to upgrade GP surgeries so they can treat more patients.
Health minister Karin Smyth said: “Too many NHS buildings are crumbling and outdated. This government is taking the long-term decisions needed to rebuild the health service.”
Sir Ciaran Devane of the NHS Alliance welcomed the “focus on long-term NHS capital investment.”
CAROL WILCOX argues for the proper implementation of the land value tax, which could see unused plots sold off and landlords priced out of landlordism, potentially resolving the housing and planning crises
We need a massive change in direction to renew a crumbling health service — that’s why Plaid Cymru has an ambitious plan to recentre primary care by recruiting 500 additional GPs and opening six new elective care hubs across Wales, writes MABON AP GWYNFOR
