HEALTH bosses are pushing ahead with plans for a superhospital after a row over costs threatened to kill off the scheme.

Plans had already been shelved for a year after a row over funding led to independent investigators being called in.

The delay is likely to cost £100,000 a month and it was feared that the project could be scrapped or scaled down to the new children's hospital development, after it emerged that the £420m hospital was £120m over budget.

But now area health chiefs have finally given the go-ahead for the private finance initiative scheme to replace Booth Hall and the Royal Manchester Children's hospitals with a new children's hospital, eye hospital, women's hospital and adult services on the Manchester Royal Infirmary site.

Though the scheme has been agreed in principle, the design is likely to change to bring down costs after the M.E.N revealed it could plunge the local health service £700m in the red by 2010.

Investigation

Greater Manchester Primary Care Trusts, who hold the purse strings to health services in the area, have agreed with the strategic health authority, and private bidders for the scheme, Catalyst Healthcare, on a team of experts to assess the scheme.

Quantity surveyors Davis Langdon and Everest and Deloitte financial consultants will carry out a three-week investigation into the design, the affordability of the scheme for Greater Manchester health economy and how fast it can be built.

The results of the inquiry published on November 14, will then influence the decision of Greater Manchester's 14 primary care trusts, who have put together their own team to look at the plans over the next three months.

Manchester primary care trusts have already imposed certain conditions on the redesign, including opening the children's hospital earlier than planned and saving the existing mental health facilities on the MRI site.

Dr Neil Goodwin, chief executive of the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority, said: "Because it is important we move forward quickly, we are focusing on those options which may impact on the overall capital cost of the scheme in order to ensure it is affordable, without prejudicing the clinical design and integrity of the scheme.

"People have waited years for this development, cancelling it is simply not an option and will not be considered."

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