Plans for 'super-hospital' scrapped

Health bosses today admitted that plans for a £1billion "super-hospital" in Paddington have been abandoned. The hospital was to be one of the most expensive and ambitious planned for the NHS and had been praised by Tony Blair. But delays and escalating costs have killed off the scheme.

The idea was to move services from Harefield, the Royal Brompton, St Mary's and Imperial College hospitals to a site next to Paddington station-But the price of the 3.2 acres of land soared to £148 million as redevelopment of the surrounding site gathered pace.

Evening Standard revealed last month that landowners had pulled out of the deal after a year of procrastination from the Department of Health in approving the plans. Now the

Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust has failed to approve changes to the business case, citing uncertainty about a land deal, an affordability gap and questions over whether such a big hospital was needed.

The move effectively means it has pulled out of the scheme. A formal announcement is expected next month.

The hospitals are now pursuing alternative plans to redevelop their services separately.