Heath Authority Approve Business Cases

The Norfolk Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority approved the outline business cases for the acute hospital, integrated care centre and mental health developments in Peterborough at their meeting this afternoon.

The chairman of the Peterborough Hospitals Trust, Clive Morton, said, "We would like to thank everyone who has been either directly or indirectly involved in developing the health investment plan and making it such an exciting vision for Peterborough's health service in the future. We would also like to congratulate the project team who have worked so hard to pull it together and present the case."

The approval means the project can now move on to the next stage of the process, procuring the new facilities using the private finance initiative. This is expected to take until late 2004 with construction work starting at the beginning of 2005.

The architects working on the project have produced a vision of how the new integrated care centre might look. The round building has many unique features and will provide a strong focal point for people travelling along Thorpe Road, in Peterborough.
 

An artist's impression of the new integrated care centre