NHS Lanarkshire spent £42.5 million developing a business case for a new Monklands hospital in Airdrie, only to have the plans rejected by the SNP Government as unaffordable, the Record can reveal. The expenditure over an 18-month period primarily covered professional design fees and enabling works, including architects, civil and structural engineers, building services engineers, planning consultants, and other design professionals.
Timeline of Events
The business case was submitted to SNP ministers in December 2025, with local health chiefs expecting approval before the Holyrood election in May 2026. However, the project faced silence from the government amid speculation of delays or downgrades. On the final parliamentary day before Holyrood's two-month summer break, Health Secretary Angela Constance announced the replacement hospital had been delayed again, with no confirmed start date. She called for the entire project to be redrawn after deeming the previous business case unaffordable.
Financial Details
A Freedom of Information release revealed that between February 2024 and October 2025, NHS Lanarkshire spent £42,504,785 on design professionals. The health board also appointed a construction partner in autumn 2023 to assist with pre-construction planning. This spending occurred despite the SNP Government pausing NHS capital projects in February 2024 to control public spending amid high inflation. Preparatory work continued behind the scenes in anticipation of approval.
Political Reaction
Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservatives health spokesman, said: "It’s incredible that a cash-strapped health board has spent tens of millions on something that’s just been scrapped. That money could have been spent on so many other beneficial things for the people of Lanarkshire. It exposes the state of the SNP’s ability to govern this country – wasteful, negligent and totally reckless when it comes to finances and running the NHS."
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour health spokeswoman, said: "It has taken the SNP just seven weeks to ditch a major manifesto promise. They lied to voters and made promises they had no budget to deliver. On top of this, to have wasted £40million on a project they have now dropped shows the contempt the SNP have for taxpayer money."
Broader Impact
Alex Neil, a former health secretary, described the decision as a "hammer blow to one of the poorest communities in Scotland." The Monklands replacement is politically sensitive as the current hospital, plagued by maintenance issues, is in the Airdrie constituency of SNP minister Neil Gray, who was health secretary until last month. An SNP spokesperson claimed in April 2026 that it was "not true" to suggest the project would be scaled back or delayed, and the party's manifesto stated "work is already well underway" to build a new hospital.
Angela Constance, the Health Secretary, said: "This is not a decision I have taken lightly – we are fully committed to building a new hospital at Monklands. However, it is also my responsibility to ensure that major investment decisions are affordable, deliverable, and aligned with the future direction of our health and care system. Development spending to date is a normal part of a project of this scale and has informed our decision. That work will not be wasted, it will help shape and support the revised proposal."
