The NHS shelled out £42million developing a business case for a long-awaited replacement hospital only to see the plans rejected by the SNP Government, the Record can reveal. Health bosses in Lanarkshire spent the cash over an 18-month period primarily on “professional design fees and enabling works” for a new Monklands hospital in Airdrie.
The business case was presented to SNP ministers in December 2025 and local NHS chiefs had hoped the scheme would be rubber-stamped before the Holyrood election in May this year. But instead they faced silence on the issue amid increasing speculation the long-awaited project would either be delayed again or downgraded.
Angela Constance, the new Health Secretary, used the final parliamentary day before Holyrood’s two-month long summer break to announce last week the replacement hospital has been delayed again, with no date confirmed for when work will eventually begin.
The SNP minister has called for the entire project to be redrawn after the previous business case was deemed unaffordable. A Freedom of Information release has now revealed NHS Lanarkshire has already spent tens of millions of pounds in drawing up plans which have now been rendered obsolete.
The SNP Government previously announced in February 2024 it was pausing work on NHS capital projects as it struggled to get a grip on public spending at a time of soaring inflation.
But preparatory work for a new Monklands hospital was continued behind the scenes by the Lanarkshire health board in expectation of a sign-off in late 2025 or early 2026.
Between February 2024 and October 2025 it spent £42,504,785 on “architects, civil and structural engineers, building services engineers, planning consultants and other design professionals”.
NHS Lanarkshire also appointed a construction partner in autumn 2023 to assist with pre-construction planning.
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. The SNP needs to start being honest with the public and apologise to local people for failing to deliver a desperately needed new Monklands hospital.”
Alex Neil, a former health secretary, last week described the decision to reject the NHS plan as a “hammer blow to one of the poorest communities in Scotland”.
An SNP spokesperson previously claimed in April – just days before the recent Holyrood election – that it was “not true” to suggest the project would be scaled back or delayed.
The party’s 2026 manifesto also stated “work is already well underway” to build a new hospital for Airdrie and Coatbridge – despite there being no start date for when construction will begin.
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The Monklands replacement is politically sensitive as the current hospital, which is plagued by maintenance issues, falls in the Airdrie constituency of SNP minister Neil Gray – who was until last month Health Secretary.
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.”