Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Hinckley and Bosworth, has called an emergency summit to bring all local NHS and Council leads together following the cancellation of the £10 million Hinckley Day Case Unit.
Papers published by the NHS on 12th February recommended that the Day Case Unit be cancelled, citing several reasons.
National funding changes under the new Labour Government led to a review of funding streams. Then, significant delays by both the NHS and Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council, and changes in demand, prompted the NHS to re-evaluate the project.
In June 2025, Cllr Bray wrote to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, asking him to "look again" and delay the project further. In his letter, Cllr Bray went so far as to state he didn't see the delay as "too much concern". Yet, the NHS paper shows that delays with the planning application played a significant part in the decision to cancel.
In a meeting on Thursday 19th February, the NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board agreed to cancel the scheme.
Dr Luke, who worked with the NHS and secured the £10m funding from the previous Conservative Government in 2024, said “This is an incredibly disappointing day for our community. I am angry.
“I’ve been proud to work alongside our NHS to secure the £24m Community Diagnostic Centre in Hinckley, which many people are seeing the benefits of, and was over the moon when the Day Case Unit – which would have complemented the Diagnostic unit – was finally given the green light last year.
“Yet planning delays, rising costs, new service provision elsewhere and the changing financial context nationally have all led to the scheme’s cancellation.
“While this is a setback, it is by no means a defeat. The NHS have pledged to use the ring-fenced £2.7m to develop a proposal for the site that meets the needs of people in Hinckley and the surrounding villages.
“I will use all my power to convene those with authority to ensure this site stands derelict not a minute longer than it absolutely has to. That money must be spent in Hinckley.
“I’ve already contacted our local NHS leaders, the County Council and Borough Council to invite them to an emergency summit so that we can work together on securing the best possible proposal to meet our healthcare needs.”
Delays, say the NHS, can be attributed to ‘Cost pressures that exceeded the [£10m approved in March 2024] exacerbated by the rise in inflation… Uncertainty from NHSE about the business case process… The delay in submitting the planning application to allow the development of a robust design to address the Local Planning Authority’s concerns about the demolition.’
In documents presented by the NHS Integrated Care Board, it states ‘The ICB acknowledges that the building cannot be left in the current condition… The £2.7m of System Capital funds allocated to the scheme continues to be ring-fenced and is included in next years approved system capital plan. The funds will be used to enable development of the site.’
Dr Luke calls this “encouraging,” and says, “while the NHS and Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council have a lot to answer for, we must now do everything we can to secure better healthcare. I have already raised this in Parliament, written to the Health Secretary and look forward to working with local representatives to move forward."
