Plans for a specialist children’s hospital to be built in the East of England have been officially signed off by ministers.  

Cambridge Children’s Hospital has now had its Outline Business Case signed off by the Treasury, the Department for Health and NHS England. 

It means the project has the green light to start the process of appointing a contractor to build the facility in 2026. 

Dr Rob Heuschkel, Clinical Lead for Physical Health at Cambridge Children’s Hospital said:    

“We are absolutely delighted that we can now move forward to enter contracts with a construction partner, so we can finally start to see work happening on site.    

“A huge amount of work has gone into finalising the designs and getting us to this point, and I want to thank our healthcare staff, young people and their families from across the region who have been contributing valuable feedback and helping us shape our plans, right from the very start.   

“The East of England is the only region in the UK without a specialist children’s hospital, and we look forward to changing that very soon.”   

Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, were both involved in the approval.  

Cambridge Children’s Hospital was approved in principle in September 2023, subject to a capital affordability review by NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care’s Joint Investment Committee.  

Their review took place in April 2024 and resulted in a recommendation to Ministers to endorse the decision.  

The five-storey hospital will be located opposite the Rosie Maternity Hospital, on Robinson Way and Dame Mary Archer Way.      

Groundworks to prepare for the build were completed in July and new access roads have now been installed to the site.  

The hospital is being co-designed with the help of children, young people, families and healthcare professionals to ensure it will meet the needs of patients, families and staff.