The government is "working at pace" to resolve the issues facing Royal Berkshire Hospital, the care minister Stephen Kinnock has said during a visit to Reading. 

It follows comments earlier in the month from the hospital's CEO who said that staff are "losing the battle" against the constant need for repairs at the London Road site.

Staff and patients told The Reading Chronicle about collapsing ceilings, cancelled operations, and a stretched maintenance budget at the hospital. 

It was hoped RBH would have a new lease of life under the previous government's New Hospital Programme - but the current government has placed the nationwide hospital rebuild plan under review. 

During a visit to the Melrose Surgery in Alexandra Road, Mr Kinnock has said he shares residents "frustrations" regarding the repairs crisis at the hospital, adding that the government was working urgently to address the issue.

He said: "It's frustrating, I share the frustration of all local people here.

"I'm aware there are 32,000 people on the waiting list at the Royal Berkshire. I know that it's seriously dilapidated and needs investment.

"I totally understand where they are coming from with the Royal Berkshire Hospital and we are working at pace to resolve the issue.

But I do understand that people are saying, 'look, we've talked for years about what we want to fix in our health and care system'.

"The big difference is the depth of the crisis we're in and the urgency of the situation we're in."

The care minister said that the government had inherited a "complete and utter mess" that would take time to address. 

Referring to the previous government's New Hospital Programme, he said: "One of the many shocking things we found after we got into government plan was that the (past) government's so called hospital building programme had no money attached to it, no serious plans for the hospital. 

"The whole thing was a work of fiction.

"Once we realised that we had to pause the whole thing because we want to have an unvarnished conversation with the British public about the reality of the situation we've inherited."

Mr Kinnock spoke to The Reading Chronicle during a visit to the Melrose Surgery in Alexandra Road to kick-start the new nation-wide consultation about the government's ten year plan for the NHS. 

Anyone can take and share their views online via change.NHS.uk until the start of next year.