Cardiff's Velindre cancer hospital total cost hits £562m

An artist's impression of the new Velindre Cancer Centre in Whitchurch

The total price tag for a new cancer hospital in Cardiff is more than £500m, it has been revealed.

The new Velindre Cancer Centre will cost nearly £200m for construction work alone.

The Welsh government last month signed off the business case for the hospital, set to be built in the city's Whitchurch area.

There has already been some controversy about its environmental impact and clinical model.

Now, Velindre University NHS Trust has put the contract to build and maintain the new hospital out to tender, with an estimated value of £562m, according to the the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The trust is looking for contractors to design, construct, finance and maintain the centre.

• Cancer centre given go-ahead by ministers

• Doctors' 'deep concern' over new cancer centre

• Cancer hospital plans 'risky', say clinicians

About £200m will cover construction - which was previously priced at £180m.

The contract will use the Welsh government's mutual investment model, getting the private sector to pay the upfront costs of building, maintaining and investing in the centre for 25 years from opening, in return for an annual fee from the public purse.

The existing Velindre Cancer Centre is based in Whitchurch - and the new facility would be close to this site

This way of financing major capital projects is also being used to fund the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys road from Dowlais Top to Hirwaun, and to build two high schools in Cardiff.

The Welsh government said it was needed due to "scarce capital funding".

Critics complain the financing model costs taxpayers enormously, with the Heads of the Valleys road widening costing £1.14bn for 11 miles of road.

The mutual investment model is similar to the old private finance initiatives, long-since scrapped due to huge costs.

A spokesman for Velindre said: "The estimated capital cost of the new Velindre Cancer Centre included on the website is anticipated to be in the region of £200m and the estimated value of the contract is an indicative assessment of the whole life cost of the scheme for the purpose of this advert.

"This includes not merely the capital value of construction over the construction period, but also, for example, the cost of maintenance and lifecycle investment over the life of the contract which will be 25 years from opening."

A spokesman for the Save the Northern Meadows campaign, which previously raised concerns on the environmental impact and clinical model, said: "That figure wasn't discussed in the Senedd. I'm sure it would have taken them by surprise. It hasn't had proper scrutiny."

The current Velindre Cancer Centre was built in 1956 and is running out of space, particularly for advances in medical technology such as new radiotherapy machines.

Planning permission for the new hospital was granted in 2017 and it is scheduled to open in 2024.