The opening of the new £87 million King’s Building at Musgrove Park Hospital is a major moment for Taunton and Somerset and is welcomed by former MP Rebecca Pow who spearheaded the campaign in Parliament for 9 years. The state of the art new facility is the culmination of over a decade of dedicated work starting in 2104, led by then Chair of the Somerset Foundation Trust, Colin Drummond with a dedicated team around him and working closely with then local MP Rebecca Pow (2015 – 2024) driving local support on the ground and in Westminster.
The new King’s Building provides eight modern operating theatres, six endoscopy rooms and a 22-bed intensive care unit, replacing facilities whose origins stretched back to the Second World War.
‘I am so proud of the whole team that worked arduously to finally see this much needed facility open. It will be a tremendous asset to Somerset, benefiting so many people. I was determined to make delivering this a priority during my time as the local MP and did all that I could to progress it though the long and complicated stages to help unlock the vital funding, working in lock-step with the Somerset NHS Foundation team and Government. The need to improve endoscopy and surgical facilities was really brought home to me during the time my husband spent at Musgrove Park Hospital over the many years of his bowel cancer. The people of the county, and indeed the hard work and professional staff deserved better. Now I am thrilled that this has come to fruition and that the current MP has been able to see through the project that began over a decade ago.
Critical now is to replace Musgrove’s desperately outdated maternity and paediatric facilities. I had firsthand experience of this unit with all three of my children being born here. There remains an urgent need to update these facilities and I support all endeavours the current MP can make to achieve this.’
Chair of Taunton and Wellington Conservative Association, James Scoines, commends the legacy the Conservatives enabled:
‘This project progressed through all its stages under the previous Government.
In 2018, current MP Rebecca Pow secured a dedicated Parliamentary debate calling for Musgrove’s outdated surgical facilities to be replaced. She presented a petition of around 6,000 signatures to Parliament and worked closely with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and the Department of Health to help secure the necessary Government funding. She was also instrumental in achieving site visits by successive Secretaries of State for Health to further the cause. Her campaigning helped keep Musgrove at the heart of the Conservative Government’s New Hospital Programme.
In 2023, the Conservative Government confirmed that Musgrove Park Hospital remained on track for completion of its wider redevelopment by 2030, with the then Health Secretary paying tribute in Parliament to Rebecca Pow alongside the MPs who had championed their local hospital schemes.
That wider redevelopment included replacing the ageing women’s and maternity facilities. Following the change of Government in 2024, Labour reviewed the New Hospital Programme and dramatically pushed back Musgrove’s timetable.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust described the resulting delay as a “bitter blow”, estimating that the whole programme will now not be completed before 2040.’
The task now is to finish what the Conservatives helped start and get Musgrove’s maternity and paediatric redevelopment back on track.
