Hospital construction expected to start in 2028

Plans for the new Leighton Hospital were first revealed in 2020

Plans for a new hospital in Cheshire could be submitted by the end of 2025 with construction expected to start within three years, health bosses have said.

Leighton Hospital in Crewe is set to be replaced with what has been described as the most digitally advanced hospital in the UK.

The project, expected to cost between £1bn and £1.5bn, is part of the government's New Hospital Programme and will be built on land adjacent to the current site.

Russ Favager, senior responsible officer at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said the proposal would be for a six-storey building with space for a multi-storey car park.

He told Tuesday's meeting of Cheshire East Council's health and wellbeing board that a planning application would be submitted by the end of the year with construction expected to start in spring 2028.

Councillors were told the new hospital would have 540 beds, the same as the existing site, while each patient would have their own room.

Leighton Hospital was built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)

The current hospital would continue to operate during the construction process, the meeting heard.

Chris Knights, the trust's programme director, said experts were looking at what the rest of the site would be used for when the existing hospital was demolished.

"The agenda there is really to try and create an enhanced health and wellbeing offer for our local population," he added.

Leighton Hospital was one of seven included in the government's New Hospital Programme to have been constructed using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

The material, which is a cheaper and less durable form of concrete used in construction between the 1950s and 1990s, made headlines last year over potential safety issues.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.