Government review of plans for Papworth Hospital’s relocation to Cambridge halts progress
Papworth Hospital. - Credit: Archant
Papworth Hospital’s move to Cambridge has stalled after a review of the plan was ordered by the Government.
Work on building a new 310-bed home on the biomedical campus next to Addenbrooke’s Hospital was due to start this autumn. After years of talks, the proposal was so far forward that Skanska had been chosen to lead the consortium to design, build and maintain it.
An artist’s impression of how the new hospital would look was released in December and it was hoped construction would be finished by 2017.
The Department of Health was said to have cleared the business case for the move and it had been passed to The Treasury for approval.
But Papworth Hospital chief executive Stephen Bridge has revealed the Government wrote just before Christmas to say it wanted to look at the plans again.
One suggestion is that Papworth could move some or all of its services to Peterborough, where the hospital is run by the Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation, and has a deficit worth about £38million.
It is the subject of a five-year rescue plan, which includes inviting bids from other health providers to use under-used space at the city hospital.
Most Read
- 1 EastEnders star Adam Woodyatt ‘to work at restaurant in Cambridgeshire’
- 2 MBR Acres releases image of graffiti message
- 3 Pictures show dramatic skies over Huntingdonshire and the Fens
- 4 Iceland offers over 60s discount on shopping bill every week
- 5 Huntingdon thief jailed after stealing watch, iPod and iPhone from vehicles
- 6 Superintendent dons rainbow helmet against hate crime on #IDAHOBIT
- 7 Silent protest at Camp Beagle as vans leave the site
- 8 Work starts on affordable 56-home development in Huntingdon
- 9 Food delivery robots taking to streets of Cambridgeshire
- 10 East West Rail host public event to discuss controversial project
But Mr Bridge said moving Papworth there would be “wrong” and would make a relatively small dent in the budget deficit.
Commenting on the Government’s intervention in Papworth’s Cambridge move, a spokesman for the Department of Health said it wanted assurances around the affordability of the scheme and whether it represented value for money.
Mr Bridge, who has worked at the specialist heart and lung hospital for 25 years, said he hoped the Government would have all the information it needed within a month.