18 hospital builds pushed back to 2032 or later

Streeting said: “The programme we inherited was unfunded and undeliverable.

“Not a single new hospital was built in the past five years, and there was no credible funding plan to build forty in the next five years.

“Today we are setting out an honest, funded, and deliverable programme to rebuild our NHS.”

He said £15 billion would be made available over the next five years to help pay for the work.

Shadow Health Secretary Ed Agar said the government had “broken” its promises and accused it of financial mismanagement.

“To govern is to choose, he [Streeting] has decided not to prioritise the delivery of new hospitals.”

Helen Morgan, of the Liberal Democrats, said: “This is a double betrayal. The Conservatives shamelessly made promises they never intended to keep.

“Now this government uses the day of Trump’s inauguration in a shoddy attempt to bury bad news, showing an outrageous disregard for patients.”

Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said the announcement was a “major blow” to trusts, staff and patients.

The new timetable set out by the government promises construction to start from 2032 on:

Then from 2035 on: