The Government has agreed to push ahead with plans for the construction of a new £300m cancer research hospital in Cambridge.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust said government approval had been given to put out a tender for a construction company to build the new facility on the city’s Biomedical Campus.
The facility, which will combine cutting-edge NHS clinical space with three new research institutes, is being built as part of the Government’s New Hospital Programme, which aims to build more than 40 new and improved hospitals by 2030.
While the trust seeks a construction partner, it is also aiming to submit the next stage of its business case for the development in the coming weeks.
The proposed 279,862sq ft building has been designed by NBBJ Architects in conjunction with patients and staff and, if given final approval, work could begin as early as next year.
Professor Richard Gilbertson, director of Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, said: “What we’re doing here is building a hospital in which university infrastructure and research will be taking place right in the heart of that NHS hospital.”
And he said it would change ‘the story of cancer for patients across the region and across the world’.
Health Minister, Maria Caulfield, added: “The centre will help speed up diagnosis right across the East of England and transform the way patient care is delivered, pairing world-class NHS clinicians with innovative university and industry-led research.
“I welcome the fact that we are now actively seeking a construction partner for this major project.”
