Royal Berkshire Hospital patients and volunteers visited Parliament this week as the Prime Minister was asked to explain 'face to face' why the hospital's rebuild has been pushed back by at least a decade.
The government confirmed this month that work to rebuild the Royal Berkshire in Reading could begin as late as 2039.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed a timetable for delivery of the previous government's new hospitals programme, which was branded 'uncosted and undeliverable' by Labour.
Mr Streeting said the new hospitals would be delivered in 'waves' of five year periods - and placed the Royal Berkshire in the final wave, set to begin in 2037 at the earliest.
Hospital bosses have since warned that the maintenance bill of the existing site could hit £400m.
Speaking at Prime Minister's questions yesterday (January 29), Clive Jones, MP for Wokingham said parts of the hospital are 'crumbling as we speak'.
The MP has criticised the government's delay to delivering the scheme, arguing that it is 'urgent and unavoidable'.
Mr Jones brought several patients and volunteers at the Royal Berkshire to watch him ask for a 'face to face' meeting with Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions.
The Liberal Democrat asked Mr Starmer to explain why 'it is acceptable that staff and patients dodge buckets collecting rainwater from leaking roofs for another 18 months'.
"The least he can do is explain his government's decision to patients and staff face-to-face," Mr Jones added.
Mike Smith, volunteer at the Royal Berkshire, said he sees the deterioration of the building 'daily', with 'leaking roofs, burst pipes and broken lifts'.
Mr Smith said hospital staff are 'wonderful' but are 'let down by the age and condition of the building', parts of which date back 175 years.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "There wasn't a plan for this building. It was a pretend plan, it was a fiction. It was unfunded and it was undeliverable."
"We will pick that up, we put in place a funded scheme to build as quickly as it can, but it's got to be funded, it's got to be deliverable. That's the difference between the approach that we're taking and the approach that they [the Conservatives] took."
Conservative MPs and Councillors have accused Labour of 'broken promises' amid the delay to the scheme.
Mr Starmer said he would arrange for a minister to meet with Mr Jones and constituents.
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