Work starts on new £12m hospital

Sagle Bernstein gave the money to the hospital that cared for her sister

Construction of a new £12m hospital on the Norfolk coast could be started in the autumn for completion in 2010.

Contractor Balfour Beatty has already started design work on the new Cromer Hospital in preparation for a planning permission application this spring.

The development, funded by a legacy from local resident Sagle Bernstein, will replace a hospital opened in 1932.

It will provide operations under local anaesthetic, out-patients, diagnostics, dialysis, and minor injuries care.

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Trust's design brief is for a modern flexible hospital, environmentally-friendly and sustainable, sympathetic to local surroundings and using local materials where possible.

Legacy on deposit

The design may also include a mixture of new build and refurbishment of existing parts of Cromer Hospital, a spokesman said.

"The next steps are finalising those design options and developing a planning application during Spring 2008.

"Once consultation regarding a planning application has been completed, building work could start in autumn this year, with construction completed in 2010.

"In 2001, the trustees of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust received an £11.4m legacy left to Cromer Hospital by the late Sagle Bernstein.

"Mrs Bernstein was a local resident and her sister had been a patient at Cromer Hospital.

"So far £2.4 million has already been spent on equipment since 2001 and the current value of the legacy, which is held on deposit and not invested in the stock market, currently stands at £12.7 million."