New hospitals where work will start this year

Birmingham Bradford Bristol (mental health services) Central Middlesex East Kent Leicester Lewisham Peterborough Salford Tunbridge Wells Wakefield Whipps Cross

He also announced a the creation of a network of fast-track surgery centres specialising in non-urgent operations.

In addition 1,000 extra training places for nurses are to be created, along with more training places for midwives and GPs.

Mr Milburn said: "This is an unprecedented expansion in new hospital developments in the NHS."

Low priority

"For too long investment in NHS infrastructure has been a low priority when it should have been a high priority.

"The prevailing culture in the NHS has been one of bed closure and cutback.

"That is no longer sustainable. What the NHS needs today is more, not fewer, beds."

He said the new hospitals would contain no mixed-sex wards but more single rooms with patients having access to bedside telephones and televisions.

However, shadow health secretary Dr Liam Fox said Mr Milburn had made "a sham announcement" about hospital building.

He said the 29 projects would each need to be subject to the normal approvals process.

He added: "After four years in charge of the NHS, Labour are still presiding over increasing waiting lists and staff shortages.

"Where will they find the extra staff, especially specialist staff, in time for these planned units?"

Dr Peter Hawker, chairman of the British Medical Association's consultants' committee, said of the new developments: "This is excellent news provided the NHS is successful in recruiting the nurses and doctors required to staff them."

Cut waiting times

The aim of the new surgery centres is to cut the amount of time patients have to wait for routine operations.

New hospitals where work will start next year

Brighton Bristol (acute services) Central Nottinghamshire Chase Farm Chelmsford Colchester Hull North Middlesex North Staffordshire Plymouth St Helen's Walsall Wolverhampton

It is also intended that the centres, to be based in England, will offer NHS patients facilities of an equal standard to those in the private sector.

Some of the centres will be created at existing hospitals, and others will be built on new sites.

Mr Milburn said 16 of the 29 new hospital schemes would include fast track centres.

He announced that a further 10 similar centres would also be built across England.

The centres will specialise in non-urgent surgery such as hip replacements, hernias and appendectomies.

Split approach

One cannot be completely fixated simply on providing surgical facilities when there may not be the staff available to run them

British Medical Association

The new surgery centres represent a move away from the traditional approach, under which urgent and non-urgent patients are treated in the same facilities, resulting in unnecessary delays for non-urgent cases.

During the winter months, many hospitals have to cease all non-urgent work in order to deal with an influx of emergency cases.

The new units are also expected to work over weekends, and early in the morning and the evening, in an attempt to offer greater convenience to working patients.

The facilities, which could be open in four to five years, could eventually take over up to 80% of all non-urgent work within the health service.

The BMA is concerned that with surgeons working an average of 50-60 hours a week, there will be nobody left to staff the new centres.

Mr Derek Machin, a consultant urologist and deputy chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, added: "We need to be aware that not all patients can be dealt with as day cases, or in a one or two day stay.

"The fact is that there is still a requirement for a large number of in-patient surgical beds."

Mr Machin said many people admitted to hospital had illnesses other than that for which they were being treated.

"Those people do need continuing specialist care in hospital."

He said there was also a risk that the new beds would be used to treat emergency patients at times of high demand.