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The QEH helipad has been permanently relocated to the opposite side of the road along the B1145 as part of the enabling works for the New QEH. Read about this relocation, funded by national charity HELP, here.

The QEH is not a major trauma centre, therefore the number of patients we receive via air ambulance is limited – in the past year three patients have been brought to The QEH for treatment using the helipad provision.

We do however know the importance of this resource through our work with colleagues in the air ambulance, due to our central location in the eastern region, the pad is well used by the ambulance service for operational reasons. As a result, the decision has been made to permanently relocate the helipad to the opposite side of the road along the B1145. Patients who are airlifted to the helipad will be conveyed by a waiting ambulance on blue lights to the emergency department.

Yes, the new multi-storey car park (MSCP) will offer slightly more spaces than we have today. While planning rules and local road capacity limit the number of spaces we can provide, this is a positive step forward. As well as the 1,335 spaces, including disabled, and parent and child bays, within the MSCP we will also retain some parking spaces in other areas across the site when the New QEH is built. 

We’re also working on wider travel improvements; from better bus links and enhanced walking and cycling routes to car-sharing initiatives to make journeys to the hospital easier and more sustainable now and in the future.

Plans for our new multi-storey car park are well underway. You can read all about the new multi-storey project and frequently asked questions here.

The car park will be built in one phase with work expected to start in June 2026, with completion expected in Q4 2027. This will allow for us to begin work on the main hospital building.

Enabling works such as the creation of some displaced parking spaces and relocation of the bus stop will begin in January/February 2026.

More information and FAQs around our new multi-storey car park project are available here.

Yes we are. In May 2023 the Government confirmed the QEH had been added to the New Hospital Programme. In January 2025 it reaffirmed this commitment when they released the revised plan for the programme.

As we are using public monies to build the new hospital we need to go through an approval process. Our New QEH team are busy progressing work as quickly as possible.

As a hospital made from RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete), QEH was only designed to last until 2010. RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete used to manufacture pre-cast planks which have been used to build the hospital.

These planks are now more than 40 years old and have reached the end of their life.

We have a rolling programme to install steel and timber support props and ‘failsafes’ across the first floor of the hospital to maximise safety for our patients, visitors, and staff.

The Trust Board at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is very clear that a new hospital is the only long-term sustainable solution to the challenges we face. 

Hospital 2.0 a standardised blueprint design for all new hospitals, developed in consultation with hundreds of clinicians, healthcare staff and patients across the country. It is the government’s national approach to delivering new hospitals so they can be built more quickly and at a reduced cost, providing value for taxpayers. Patients and staff will benefit from a modern hospital design making use of the latest technology, digital innovation and sustainability to improve overall patient experience and provide a better working environment for staff. The design will help us achieve the Government target is reaching net zero emissions by 2040 and also put the NHS on a sustainable footing for the future. We will be exploring all avenues to make our building as environmentally sustainable as possible to reach the national net zero emissions NHS target by 2040. We already have a wind turbine on site, but we will be working with specialists in this field to research methods of energy generation to make our site carbon neutral and as environmentally friendly as it can be.

Currently we expect work on the New QEH main building to begin in 2028, with the new building ready to care for patients in 2032. This will allow the Trust to complete the full business case process required for any Government funded project of this size and complete all the enabling works required to start the build.

In December 2025 a national report into the safety of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) hospitals, of which The QEH is one, was released by the Department of Health and Social Care. The independent report assessed the seven RAAC affected hospitals as safe to remain open beyond 2030. This is the result of the remediation, mitigation, and safety works Trusts such as The QEH have undertaken and will continue to undertake.

This report reinforces our position on the national New Hospital Programme – we need a new hospital for the people of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk as soon as possible and we have a team of people in place who are dedicated to deliver this.

This report gives us a greater understanding of RAAC and how we can continue to maintain the safety of our building as we progress these plans

Absolutely. We have an opportunity here to build a hospital that will last into the future. We aren’t at the stage yet where we can say how the new build will be constructed. Once our Full Business Case has been approved, we will go through the process where we engage the Government’s New Hospital Programme on Hospital 2.0 and explore the most up to date technology to produce a building that will stand the test of time. This method will ensure we will be using the most up to date construction technology when the time comes to start building.

We recognise our populations will grow and age significantly by the time a new hospital is operational. We are currently analysing our data to give us the most up to date information. This includes using the latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) and National Audit Office data and population models to formulate a Full Business Case setting out the size and scale of a new hospital. Looking at how the population will grow, with large scale housing developments planned in the area, as well as factoring in health trends and new models of care.

All this will help determine need as we then look to work with the national New Hospital Programme team.

The new hospital will be fully digitally enabled, changing the way our teams work. Meaning our services will need to be delivered in a different way. 

Current concept designs show the new building as having six storeys – with the central spine of the building being used for the most urgent areas such as the Emergency Department, diagnostic services and Theatres to allow for the most efficient care. The building then has sections off this core area for further dedicated treatment such as the Acute Medical Assessment Unit, paediatrics and medical wards.

The New QEH will be 100% single rooms, which is now the standard design for all new hospital nationally. Infection control, aiding restful sleep and enhanced privacy and dignity are just a few of the documented benefits of single rooms and many of our colleagues in other Trusts tell us it makes consultation with patients easier on a one-to-one basis. We will continue to explore all the options as we move forward through our planning stages to ensure we have the right level of care for our patients and staff.

You can hear our Associate Director of Nursing – New QEH talking about the benefits of single room on our virtual New QEH showcase in June 2025. 

As part of our Full Business Case we will be exploring all avenues to make our building as environmentally sustainable, and ‘green’ as possible to reach the national net zero emissions NHS target by 2040. We already have our wind turbine on site, but we will be working with specialists in this field to research methods of energy generation to make our site carbon neutral and as environmentally friendly as it can be. Practices such as rainwater harvesting, ground source heat pumps to name a very few will be explored.

Our preferred scheme is a single-phase new build on our existing hospital site. The Government has released confirmation of a funding envelope of £1bn to £1.5bn will allow us to deliver the right size hospital for our 330,000 population.

Absolutely. We will continue to maintain our current site until the day we close the doors and move to our new hospital. The safety of our patients, staff and visitors is paramount and we have a robust installation programme to maintain the safety of the roof as well as a team of skilled engineering teams and surveyors who carry out daily structural checks across our estate. All of this will continue until all our services are relocated to our new building.

A shortlist of possible options identified were:

• a single-phase new build hospital on the existing QEH site
• a multi-phase development (part new-build, part refurbishment)
• considering whether a new hospital would be built on the existing hospital site or elsewhere.

As part of the Strategic Outline Case (SOC), which explains why a new hospital is needed and how it will be delivered, a robust process was followed to assess these options with an extensive assessment of six possible sites, including the current location and five alternatives. Working with NHS England and the Borough Council, the QEH team scrutinised these sites against a range of criteria including size, access, and their inclusion in the Local Development Plan. Following a robust assessment, the current site emerged as the clear choice, offering a deliverable programme period, value for money and the best potential for patient care, both in the future and until the new hospital opens for business.

The reasons for why our Strategic Outline Case sets out our preferred new hospital scheme for a single-phase new build on the existing hospital site are as follows:

Most cost-effective solution

Least disruption
Building on an offsite location would likely bring disruption to patients, visitors and staff for at least ten years. It would include factors outside of our control (including roads and other infrastructure) and would require a formal public consultation. This would also mean a much longer time period before a new hospital was up and running.

Maximising recent and planned investments
Building a new hospital on the existing site means that all of the recent investments and improvements we have made to the site including the new Endoscopy Unit, West Norfolk Eye Centre and Community Diagnostic Centre will all remain as they fit in with our long-term Estates Strategy and ‘masterplan’ for QEH. We are committed to improving the facilities and experience we offer our patients now as well as addressing the critical issues around RAAC that present day-to-day challenges for the running of our hospital.

Supporting our investment case
At a national level, the Government’s commitment to eradicating RAAC was a key driver to awarding the necessary investment. The onsite option was our best chance to secure the funding we need to build a new hospital.

At the Trust Board Meeting on 9 October 2024, the Board approved the preferred option of a single-phase full new build on the existing hospital site based on the technical detail and information presented to them following the completion of a detailed assessment of a shortlist of possible options.

As part of the development of our Strategic Outline Case (SOC), a number of potential site options were explored including five offsite options for a new hospital and two onsite options. We worked very closely with the Borough Council and other key stakeholders on this work over the last couple of years and have engaged with a number of landowners as part of a comprehensive appraisal process.

We will post regular updates through our social media channels and on our website and we will work with the local media to make sure they have access to the latest information and are able to cover the details in full.

If you would like to sign up to our monthly newsletter about how we are modernising our hospital, including our proposals for a new car park, and the progress being made on our new hospital, please email contact us and we will add you to our list.