City's £500m hospital 'halfway'

The children's hospital will be the biggest in the UK

One of the largest new hospital developments in Europe, being built in Manchester at a cost of £500m, is more than halfway to its completion.

The complex of hospitals in Oxford Road will include the biggest integrated children's hospital outside America.

The site's current hospitals, including St Mary's, Manchester Royal Infirmary and the eye hospital will continue to operate with improved facilities.

The development is due to be completed next year.

More than one million patients will be treated on the site, which will also incorporate Booth Hall Children's Hospital and the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in Pendlebury.

The children's hospital will have its own accident and emergency department.

The work started in 2004 and will be completed by winter 2009

Peter Mount, chairman of the Central Manchester and Manchester University Hospitals Trust said: "The development of our central site is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"Our existing buildings are much loved by patients because they know they get a high standard of skilled, specialist care from dedicated staff.

"But some of these buildings were designed more than a hundred years ago for models of care that we would find wholly unacceptable these days."

The centralisation will cut down time taken by staff to travel between some of the current "satellite" sites.

Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said the hospital complex was a "tremendously exciting prospect".

Already completed on the new site, which is south of the city centre, are the Manchester heart centre, a new haematology unit and the endoscopy department.