The comments by Professor Tim Orchard, chief executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, came after chancellor Rachel Reeves promised further details of the review of the NHP would be announced in the coming weeks.

Imperial College has three hospitals, St Mary's, Charing Cross and Hammersmith, awaiting rebuild and major refurbishment as part of the NHP.

Prof Orchard said every six-month delay in the build and design of St Mary's costing £63-73m due to ‘inflation, productivity, and benefits-realisation impacts'.

The trust chief said building failures were increasingly common in parts of its estate despite spending up to £30m a year on essential maintenance.

Clinical areas have had to be closed at St Mary's for urgent structural maintenance, while an operating theatre was also recently out of action due to flooding caused by roof problems.

As London's busiest trauma centre the trust expects to have every inpatient bed occupied during winter.

A DHSC spokesperson said: ‘We inherited a New Hospital Programme that was unfunded and undeliverable, offering no future for our crumbling NHS estate.

‘Patient safety is key, and as the chancellor confirmed during her Budget announcement, we've prioritised the rebuilds of the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from RAAC.

‘Our thorough review of the New Hospital Programme will get it back on a sustainable footing and we will come forward with a fully-costed and deliverable programme for all remaining projects in due course.'