FAQs

Around 65% of the 50-year-old Frimley Park Hospital was built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete planks (RAAC), which are now known to deteriorate over time and as such Frimley Park Hospital needs to be replaced as soon as possible.

Our current hospital has around 8,500 RAAC planks, including in some of our most key areas: our operating theatres, intensive care unit, wards, and corridors.

An independent report commissioned by the Department of Health & Social Care on the measures taken to keep RAAC hospitals safe was published in 2025.  It found Frimley Park Hospital’s RAAC safety and structurally maintenance works are effective and suitable to keep services and people safe beyond 2030, but confirms the new hospital is essential and the only way to fully deal with the risk.

While we develop and build our new Frimley Park Hospital, we will continue with our extensive RAAC maintenance programme to keep our hospital, patients, and staff safe. This programme has been ongoing for over 10 years and the need to remove all RAAC from hospitals is the driving force behind the new Frimley Park Hospital timeline

In April 2025 we opened a brand-new extension on the current hospital site — a significant investment that brings real improvements for patients and staff. The new building includes 74 much-needed inpatient beds and a state-of-the-art diagnostic and imaging unit. This has increased bed capacity, reduced imaging waiting times, and provided a more efficient environment for ward refurbishments. It also helps mitigate disruptions caused by our ongoing remedial and maintenance work on areas affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

This extension addresses the clear and growing needs of our population right now, allowing us to provide high-quality care on the current site for at least the next five years.

There will be an opportunity to still use our hospital’s high-quality buildings, like this extension, after our new hospital has opened, as part of wider health and care transformation plans to provide care closer to home. These plans are in the early stages of development.

We remain committed to improving care for patients today while we continue to shape the future of services for tomorrow and we will keep our communities informed and involved as our future plans develop.

All RAAC areas of the old Frimley Park Hospital, which make up 65% of the site, will be demolished.

As part of our new hospital programme, a detailed analysis will be undertaken for the whole of the existing site to ensure the best possible use of the newer building areas that do not contain any RAAC. The future use of the non-RAAC-affected estate will be subject to review.

Frimley Health is proud of its long-standing partnership with the Ministry of Defence through Joint Hospital Group (South East), and this will continue as we develop our new hospital. The new facility represents an opportunity to strengthen this relationship even further, ensuring that serving military personnel can continue to train and practise across a range of specialties in modern, state-of-the-art environments. This will support them in maintaining the high standards required for their roles.

Members of the local military community—including serving personnel, their families and veterans—will continue to have access to healthcare services. Referrals from Defence Primary Healthcare for diagnostic tests and specialist care will remain in place. Most importantly, patients can be reassured that their ‘Care Will Continue’ without interruption.

Our proposal involves:

• a new, purpose‑built acute hospital replacing the existing Frimley Park Hospital, focused on emergency and specialist care, designed to national Hospital 2.0 standards
• continued use of some suitable non‑RAAC buildings at the existing Frimley Park site, such as the recently opened hospital extension, for outpatient, diagnostic and community‑based services
• increasing planned surgery, diagnostic and outpatient services at other sites. This would include Heatherwood Hospital, building on its established role and strong performance as a planned care centre to deliver, for example, orthopaedic, eye and gynaecology services
• more care delivered in neighbourhoods and people’s homes
• better use of digital services, including virtual appointments and remote monitoring

Alongside this, there would be continued investment at Wexham Park Hospital (Slough), as well as further development of Community Diagnostic Centres and neighbourhood health services.

• patients can access services in locations designed specifically for the type of care they need
• travel and accessibility can be spread more evenly across the system
• planned and specialist care can be delivered in settings less affected by surges in emergency demand
• planned care is less likely to be cancelled or delayed
• services are better able to respond if demand changes in the future

Increasing capacity for planned care at Heatherwood Hospital would build on its established role and strong performance as a planned care centre, and support the proposed focus on more specialist complex care at the new Frimley Park Hospital.

While our new hospital will look and feel very different, we will continue to provide our core services within the new Frimley Park Hospital, on the non-RAAC existing site, and in the community.

The new hospital would focus on the care that can only be delivered in an acute setting, such as emergency and specialist treatment. While some routine, diagnostic and planned care would be delivered in different locations, including community settings and other hospital sites, such as Heatherwood Hospital.

A key part of our proposal is the need for a new hospital building. We have carefully considered whether this could be delivered on the existing Frimley Park Hospital site.

This option has been explored in detail, including feasibility and design work, independent technical advice, and comprehensive discussions with national partners and the local planning authority.

Rebuilding would mean:

• prolonged disruption
• longer build times
• higher cost and delivery risk
• major compromises in layout and design
• limited ability to adapt to future healthcare needs

For these reasons, rebuilding on the existing site is not a viable solution (‘viable’ as defined at the beginning of our Engagement Document). It does not provide a safe, effective or sustainable solution for patients or staff, now or in the future.

We are a Trust that stands out in many ways as an employer, and we know just how important our employees are to what we do. We’ve worked hard to create a Trust where staff will know that they are valued, respected and rewarded.

Before the new hospital opens, we will have a recruitment drive so new staff can begin their journey, and our existing employees can excel, develop and progress their careers. At the moment we do not know staffing numbers for the new hospital, however we will continue to engage with our staff throughout the whole process.

We fully expect our military partnership to continue. Frimley Health has celebrated over 27 years with the military, and we will continue to maintain an excellent relationship with the Armed Forces. We are working closely with the Ministry of Defence and others who share our current site and who could share any future site.

A change in Government can always bring uncertainty. Funding for a new Frimley Park Hospital has been allocated and we will continue to work towards our deadline.

18 potential sites were actively explored within and around the local area. Each site was assessed against the practical requirements of a modern acute hospital, including minimum land size, availability, deliverability, access, environmental constraints and the ability to be built ahead of the national target to replace all existing hospitals that have RAAC by 2035 (initially 2030, prior to 2025 Mott MacDonald Report).

Many of the sites considered were ruled out because they were simply too small to accommodate a hospital of this scale. Others were not available for sale, would have required complex and uncertain compulsory purchase processes, or were affected by significant environmental constraints such as being exposed to flood risk or containing protected areas.

The Frimley New Hospital Programme is a once in a generation opportunity to improve health facilities for residents in parts of East Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey.  The programme is about more than just a brand new Frimley Park Hospital, it is also about enhancing services and facilities across the whole of the geography served by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, including Heathwood Hospital in Ascot and Wexham Park Hospital in Slough. 

Up until April 2026 the programme was working in partnership with the former Frimley Integrated Care Board, which covered the same geography as Frimley Health. Following national changes to the NHS, the populations formerly represented by Frimley ICB were split between three new ICBs, East Berkshire moving to Thames Valley ICB, Surrey Heath and Farnham to Surrey and Sussex ICB, and North East Hampshire to Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB.  As part of the changes, the potential impact to Frimley Health Foundation Trust was recognised, as three ICBs would now represent communities using these services. The three new ICBs want to ensure commissioning remains strategic and community focused and so a lead commissioner for the area was agreed.   

NHS Thames Valley was selected as the lead commissioner for Frimley Health Foundation Trust, and for the NHP programme. The programme is related to the whole geography and residents of the Thames Valley regularly access Frimley Health services. Thames Valley residents in Bracknell, Sandhurst and Crowthorne access the current Frimley Park Hospital. 

It is also recognised that until recently, the staff of Frimley ICB have managed the geography for over 10 years, many of these staff and the senior leadership are now part of Thames Valley ICB and have significant knowledge and understanding of their former communities and services. 

How other ICBs will be involved 

Three of the four South East ICBs are now involved in the programme. We have established a Southern Partnership Board to focus on commissioning for the boundary geographies and to ensure there is oversight, challenge and strategic planning between the organisations.  Members of each of the ICBs are on the Board and we are jointly committed to our responsibilities to ensure the programme meets the needs of our local populations and offers safe, high performing modern services. Maximising the opportunities the programme presents. 

Partner Membership on the Integrated Care Board 

Lance McCarthy, Chief Executive of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is one of the NHS Provider Partner Members on the board of NHS Thames Valley. As a board which includes partner members and non-executive members we ensure we manage any potential conflicts of interest safely. All interests are declared and updated regularly to ensure decisions taken by the board are done so in line with best practice and governance rules. 

The proposed site forms part of the land currently occupied by Pine Ridge Golf Club in Frimley and is owned by local charity Frimley Fuel Allotments.

The total size of the land owned by Frimley Fuel Allotments is approximately 265 acres. We would only acquire 55 acres (around 20%) for a new hospital. This means the development would use a relatively small proportion of the overall land available, while still providing enough space to design a modern hospital that meets national standards and allows for future flexibility.

Development would be focused within a defined part of the site, carefully positioned away from the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area, enabling significant areas of open and landscaped space to be retained around it. This approach would limit the amount of land used, allow the hospital to function efficiently, and create opportunities to protect and enhance the wider landscape and natural environment, including sensitive natural habitats.

Identifying a proposed location does not mean decisions are final. The Trust has not purchased the land, and an agreement is in place to allow further technical work and engagement to take place. Further planning assessment, regulatory approvals and public engagement are still required, and your feedback will help shape how plans continue to develop.

The Trust has followed a rigorous, structured and fully compliant site selection process in line with HM Treasury Green Book requirements, Cabinet Office guidance and national NHS estate code guidance. Our process has been discussed widely with the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) for the new Frimley Park Hospital, and has also been independently reviewed and assured by the national New Hospital Programme.

We have engaged with local MPs, councillors, planning authorities and system partners throughout this process and will continue to do so as our proposal progresses.

We know access and parking are key concerns.

Most outpatient, diagnostic and community appointments would continue to be provided at the existing Frimley Park site, where facilities are newer and many people already receive care.

As the majority of hospital visits are for these types of appointments, this approach helps keep travel disruption to a minimum and reduces pressure on local roads.

If plans progress, more detailed traffic and transport surveys and modelling would be undertaken in partnership with local highways authorities and councils to help inform access arrangements and identify where improvements or mitigations may be required

As part of our initial engagement period, feedback had showed the consideration for future car parking was of paramount importance.

The car park for the new hospital will be a ‘Hospital 2.0 design’ to optimise space. Meanwhile, most outpatient, diagnostic and community appointments would continue to be provided at the existing Frimley Park site, which will help reduce car parking pressure at both locations as not all services will be on one site.

Challenges are expected for developments of this scale. Steps have already been taken to understand the potential challenges of the proposed. This includes early pre‑application engagement with the local planning authority and ongoing discussions with key partners such as Surrey County Council and their highways department. As plans develop, transport, access, infrastructure and environmental considerations would be fully integrated into the overall design of the proposed site, supported by robust technical assessment.

With our SOC complete, we are now in the early stages of developing our Outline Business Case (OBC) which contains the detail of the new hospital design together with the operational models and associated costs. Following that we’ll submit a Full Business Case (FBC) which includes the contractual arrangements for building the hospital.  

Meanwhile we continue to work closely with the national new hospital programme on a preferred site for the new hospital. We remain in a commercially sensitive phase of this process and expect to be able to provide further updates soon. 

Our overall target timeline remains on track, with construction of the new Frimley Park Hospital to begin between 2028 and 2029.  The new hospital will open 2032-2033.

More explanation of this process can be found on ‘Our new hospital journey’ pages.

We are launching a programme of public engagement so that patients, staff, partners and local residents can understand our proposal and share their views.

Our new engagement document: Transforming health and care for our communities, is about our proposed approach to delivering hospital and community care in the future, including the role of a new Frimley Park Hospital within a wider network of services.

It considers how these proposals could affect patients, carers, staff and local communities, and seeks to understand what matters most to people as plans develop, including issues such as access, travel, design and local impact.

The new Frimley Hospital will be a Hospital 2.0 build. This is a standardised design for future hospitals which will decrease the average time to develop and build hospitals as well as reducing the cost through economies of scale. It will also benefit patients and staff through digital solutions and an optimised hospital layout.

The new hospital will be built using modern methods of construction, with a view to it lasting as long as possible. It will allow for future growth of services, and the design will incorporate the learning from the best examples of national and international hospital design. This is going to be a modern hospital fit for the 21st century so it will be fully sustainable.

The new Frimley Park Hospital is part of the national Hospital 2.0 design programme. This means that inpatient areas will feature single, ensuite rooms with communal social areas for patients, so they don’t feel isolated.

Single occupancy rooms offer significant infection control and privacy and dignity benefits, for example a consultation with patients is easier on a one-to-one basis. To accommodate the single rooms, the new hospital will be larger than the current Frimley Park Hospital.

As part of our engagement process, we be sharing more information about the Hospital 2.0 programme.