Health secretary Victoria Atkins was skewered on live radio this morning over the Tories’ pledge to build 40 new hospitals.
The cabinet minister struggled to say how much progress the government was making towards its target.
Boris Johnson made the pledge to build the hospitals by 2030 in the run-up to the last general election.
On LBC this morning, presenter Nick Ferrari asked Atkins: “I know it was a number of years ago and I know it was under a previous leadership, but where are those 40 hospitals?”
The minister replied: “Well we are making progress and we will be opening, I think, four of these hospitals this year and there will be many other sites around the country.
“I’ve been to visit one or two of them that are not completed but very much rising out of the ground. Alongside that we have the programme of works to upgrade existing hospitals.”
But Ferrari hit back: “Of the 40, how many will be built by the time we come to a general election?”
A clearly-flustered Atkins said: “We’re opening four more this year, so depending on when the election is ... we will have around four this year, we’ve already opened a few more.”
Asked precisely how many, the health secretary said: “Nick you’re doing this thing where you ask me to remember all the stats in my brain.”
Ferrari went on: “We know the general election will be held this year. I’m going to put it to you that you’ve delivered 10 of the 40, would that be about right?”
Atkins said: “In fairness, the programme of 40 was by 2030 because they are huge projects.”
A report by the National Audit Office last year said the government was set to break its hospital-building pledge.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “The programme has innovative plans to standardise hospital construction, delivering efficiencies and quality improvements.
“However, by the definition the government used in 2020, it will now deliver 32 rather than 40 new hospitals by 2030.”