£1.2 billion super hospital

Plans for the most expensive superhospital in Britain costing £1.2 billion can be unveiled today.

The 10-year scheme will see two sites of the Bart's and The London NHS Trust completely revamped.

Two giant glass towers will be the focal point of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, while a Portland stone building will go up alongside the existing Bart's Hospital in the City. The work is set to begin early next year, with parts ready by 2008 at Bart's and by 2010 at the Royal London.

The whole hospital will have more than 8,500 rooms. The towers - which at up to 200 metres tall will be three-quarters the height of Canary Wharf - will house most of the in-patient beds together with an entire women's and children's hospital, involving floor space the equivalent of 42 football pitches.

The development is being funded by the Private Finance Initiative or PFI, where a private firm foots the original £1.2billion building and equipment bill and the Trust pays annual fees for 32 years. Critics point out that the scheme will cost more than the £750million Dome, and claim the NHS will end up paying far more than the original estimate because of the repayment plan.

The yearly cost to the Trust has not been finalised and is "commercially sensitive" but suggestions are that it could be around £12 million.

A similar project at Paddington, where costs spiralled from £360million to almost £1billion, has been criticised as a white elephant and could be scaled back. However, Bart's and The London NHS Trust says its scheme will be worth every penny. Trust chief executive Paul White said: "This will give us the best hospital in the UK. It will be like chalk and cheese to what we have now."

The development will include:

Bart's, Britain's oldest hospital dating back to the 12th century, will become a cancer and cardiac centre of excellence and include sexual-health services, a centre for reproductive medicine and the new ?15million West Wing breast cancer centre due to open in September.

The PFI firms are Skanska and Innisfree asset management, and the Trust's annual fee will cover use of the buildings, maintenance, catering and cleaning services. After 32 years the buildings will be returned to the NHS.

PFI has been criticised because interest rates mean projects funded in this way end up costing the taxpayer much more than the initial outlay. But Mr White said that although PFI may not be ideal, it is the only option for projects of this scale.

John Lister, information director of pressure group London Health Emergency, said: "The 'rent' seems likely to start at a massive £12.5 million, increasing each year, index-linked. It is not clear that there is sufficient revenue guaranteed to enable the Trust to cover this without draining extra cash from other vital services in the East End.

"It will result in some of the most expensive floor space in history: each square metre will cost £64,400."

Planning applications have been submitted and are expected to be granted in the autumn. Building work will be done in phases to ensure all services remain running throughout.