Facts

Matt Hancock repeated the claim that has been made many times by members of Johnson’s government when he said on Twitter that the government would “build 40 new hospitals over the 2020s” which discusses the construction and design of new hospitals.

However, this claim was misleading. For a more comprehensive analysis see here.  

Moreover, most of these hospitals are not “new” – more than half involve either rebuilding existing hospitals, replacing them, or building a hospital at a site that already exists.

Most importantly, there is only £3.7bn for the 40 projects to share between now and 2024, all but £1.6bn of which was already announced last year. The projects will need far more funding before they are complete - something that's only promised by 2030.

Verdict

Hancock was repeating a version of the same misleading claim about new hospitals that has been made time and time again by Boris Johnson.

Examples of misleading statements by Boris Johnson in reference to building 40 new hospitals can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

When we asked Matt Hancock to respond to the claims laid out in this website, a spokesperson said: “This list is false, wildly inaccurate, and in some cases possibly even defamatory. For example claiming that some of Matt's claims in the Commons were in defiance of the ministerial code, when they were in fact accurate. The priority throughout this unprecedented pandemic has been saving lives.”