Rebuilding Airedale Hospital is a necessity so the Government needs to fulfil promises it made before the election

But when promises to improve the health service are made on the election campaign trail only to then tell communities that fixing their crumbling hospitals is no longer viable, it leads to widespread disaffection. The new Labour Government needs to realise this as two hospital projects in the region are placed under review.

Just days before the election, the now Health Secretary Wes Streeting promised that Labour would deliver the renovations to Airedale Hospital. A hospital that is in itself on the sickbed.

He also called the government "shambolic and outrageous" for failing to release the funds for the Leeds element of the New Hospitals Programme.

The programme, under the previous government, was supposed to build 40 “new hospitals”. The pledge became emblematic of the previous administration’s failures. But that would not excuse Labour turning its back on what is much needed infrastructure in the region. Renovating Airedale Hospital is not a want but an urgent need.

The hospital was built in the 1960s with a planned lifespan of 30 years but has since served a population of 220,000 people in the area surrounding Keighley. The site has experienced many leaks and it is widely said to be not fit for purpose.

While the new Government has rightly been commended for the progress it has made in bringing the junior doctors strikes to an end, skills and infrastructure go hand in hand.

Should the Government renege on previous promises on hospitals in this region then that will only lead to further distrust and undermine the democratic process.