It has been five years of promises - but we still don't know if major Greater Manchester hospital is being rebuilt

The long-awaited rebuild of North Manchester General Hospital has still not received the go-ahead, after close to five years of government promises. Hospital chiefs aired their ‘frustration’ after years of preparation to finally begin the rebuild of the crumbling Victorian hospital.

The update follows the new Labour government’s announcement of a ‘complete review’ of the New Hospitals Programme that pledge to create 40 new hospitals. The plan was established by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after he promised during a campaign visit to North Manchester General Hospital at the end of September 2019 to completely transform the Crumpsall site.

Sources close to the North Manchester multi-million pound project have told the Manchester Evening News previously that they are quietly confident about the hospital rebuild still going ahead eventually, not least as so much planning and groundwork has already been completed that they would consider the transformation ready to begin. But today, hospital directors bemoaned yet more delays.

READ MORE: We were promised a rebuild of North Manchester General Hospital years ago - could it now be called off?

North Manchester General was selected as one of the sites in line for a major overhaul. Preliminary work on the ground has been underway since at least 2022, with planning on paper long preceding that.

A new car park is now up and running on the site to serve the needs of construction workers, and the influx of patients that will come once the rebuild is finished. Fences line one section of the Crumpsall site, separating a section for builders who have been on site. Multiple departments of the hospital have also been moved around and reorganised to ensure demolitions can begin