Children's hospital could be built in 2026

The hospital's plans include landscaped gardens to provide young people with a place to relax

Work on a new children's hospital for the East of England could begin in 2026 after plans were signed off by the government.

Cambridge Children's Hospital will be built opposite the Rosie Maternity Hospital on the same site that houses Addenbrooke's and Royal Papworth hospitals in the city.

It will care for children from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the outline business case for the project had now been signed off by the Treasury and Department of Health and Social Care, meaning a contractor could now be appointed.

Ministerial approval "recognises that the hospital will meet the needs of patients and staff right across the East of England and that the project has the appropriate funding streams in place, to deliver the specialist children’s facility", the trust said.

Dr Rob Heuschkel, clinical lead for physical health at Cambridge Children’s Hospital, said: "A huge amount of work has gone into finalising the designs and getting us to this point, and I want to thank our healthcare staff, young people and their families from across the region who have been contributing valuable feedback and helping us shape our plans, right from the very start."

The Cambridge Children's Hospital will bring together children's mental and physical health services under one roof

He added: "The East of England is the only region in the UK without a specialist children’s hospital, and we look forward to changing that very soon."