Written question asked by Mark Francois (Conservative) on Wednesday, 29 June 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 July 2005. It was answered by Jane Kennedy (Labour) on Monday, 11 July 2005 on behalf of the Department of Health.

New Hospital (Maldon)

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a site has been identified for the construction of the new hospital in Maldon, Essex; and what the latest date is on which she expects the hospital to open.

Answer: [holding answer 6 July 2005]: A potential site has been identified, but technical legal issues are delaying the purchase and at present it is not possible to say when it will be completed. A wide range of factors can affect the speed of progress of a new hospital build, but experience from other similarly sized schemes indicated that it will take about 48 months to complete the hospital from when the initial approval in principle to proceed is given. In this case, initial approval cannot be given until the site is in the ownership of the national health service.

Secondary information