Harlow will have a brand-new hospital by the end 2025 – but what do we know about the plans?

This week, The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT), which runs the current Harlow hospital, launched a new micro-website for residents to tack progress towards the new hospital.

In October 2019 it was announced the trust would be one of six to benefit from a share of £2.7 billion in government to build new facilities.

PAHT, which also runs St Margaret’s Hospital and Essex Hospital, has since announced its new Harlow hospital will be built on green belt land near the existing Princess Alexandra Hospital, opened in 1965.

However, the exact site has yet to be confirmed; negotiations on the site and location are being finalised but are currently unavailable to the public as they are classed “commercially sensitive”.

While concrete details on the new build are scarce, PAHT has committed to using the new hospital as an opportunity to become more environmentally friendly.

Planning for the new hospital will include use of LED lighting and a “green travel plan”.

Bosses have also committed to replacing single use plastic with suitable alternatives.

Lance McCarthy, chief executive of The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, said: “We are pleased to have launched our new microsite to provide our patients, visitors, people, public and stakeholders with a fantastic hub of up-to-date information about this exciting project.

“We hope that many of you will access this resource regularly, contributing to our polls and surveys, so that we can ensure we have the broadest range of engagement with our community.

“The discussions that have come out of the focus groups and the feedback from the surveys we have received so far have been really positive, with some great thoughts and ideas shared. Please continue to get in touch with us.

“We are on an amazing journey to transform healthcare for the population we serve. We will need your ideas, suggestions and involvement at every stage to ensure that the new hospital will be an outstanding place to receive care and a fabulous place to work too.”

The trust aims to publish an outline business case (OBC) by March 2021 and a full business case (FBC) by June 2022.

To view up-to-date progress on plans for the new hospital, visit: https://www.pah.nhs.uk/newhospital

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