MPs call for 'spades in the ground' to deliver new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital
Cambridgeshire MPs have called for "spades in the ground" to deliver a 'desperately needed' new cancer hospital after it was given the green light. Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed on Monday (January 20) that the New Hospital Programme will be relaunched – with Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital among the first to be completed.
The future of the project was thrown into doubt after the Labour government announced a review of 40 new hospitals promised under the Conservatives. It now says construction will proceed in four 'waves', with the first set of hospitals to be completed in the next three years. The final part will not begin until between 2035 and 2039.
Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, a partnership between Cambridge University Hospitals and the University of Cambridge, will be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It is hoped it will transform how cancer is diagnosed and treated, leading to earlier detection and better outcomes for patients.
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Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner MP described the scheme as 'desperately needed' and said residents would "breathe a sigh of relief" that a timetable for its construction had finally been announced. He said: "I am absolutely delighted. Today is the news that residents in Cambridge have been waiting to hear for far too long.
"For years we have been led up the garden path with false promises from the Tories about when this desperately needed scheme will finally be underway in our community. It is thanks to this Labour Government that we now have a timetable for delivery so patients finally get the care they deserve."
South Cambs Lib Dem MP Pippa Heylings said she was 'hugely relieved' that Cambridge Cancer Hospital will be among the hospitals in the plan. She said: "This is extremely important news for us locally, for our region and the whole country. The Cambridge Cancer Research hospital aims to rewrite the story of cancer, transforming the outcomes for millions of people both here at home and across the globe.
"This is personal, too. The oncology team at Addenbrooke's saved my husband's life. But we know that a high price is being paid for missed opportunities to prevent, detect and treat cancer. That's why it is so important that the Government has given it the go-ahead after a period of uncertainty during its review of the New Hospital Programme.
"Alongside the world-class strengths of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus – the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe – South Cambridgeshire is ideally placed to deliver this innovation. I look forward to spades being in the ground soon."
Wes Streeting, Labour's Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said: "The New Hospitals Programme we inherited was unfunded and undeliverable. Not a single new hospital was built in the past five years, and there was no credible plan to build forty in the next five years.
"When I walked into the Department of Health and Social Care, I was told that the funding for the New Hospitals Programme runs out in March. We were determined to put the programme on a firm footing, so we can build the new hospitals our NHS needs. Today we are setting out an honest, funded and deliverable programme to rebuild our NHS. I am committed to delivering the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and to rebuilding our NHS."
Cambridge University Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice said: "This is excellent news for the future of Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, which promises to have a huge impact on how we diagnose and treat cancer, not only in our region, but globally. Our teams are also working hard to secure much-needed philanthropic support to complement the funding committed by the NHS and the University."
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