WE'RE READY TO GO

MINISTER CONFIRMS WORK WILL START ON NORTH MANCHESTER GENERAL REBUILD

- HELENA VESTY

NORTH Manchester General Hospital's rebuild will happen with the bulk of the work starting within two years.

There had been concerns over the government's plans to rebuild the hospital, but in an exclusive interview with the M.E.N., a health chief has revealed that the approximate start date for 'major works' is 2025, with a completion date of 2030.

The government has said it is 'ready to go' and promises to completely transform the site. The multi-million-pound plans put forth so far spell a complete overhaul of the Crumpsall area - including a new acute hospital, a new mental health inpatient unit, a wellbeing hub, an education hub, a new residential community, housing, commercial space and a village green.

Concerns have swirled around the long-awaited North Manchester General Hospital rebuild, but a top health boss has pledged that 'major works' will begin around '2025? The completion deadline of 2030, set earlier this year by Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay, is 'realistic, insists the health minister in charge of the major upgrade.

Initial plans for what the hospital could look like will be finalised by spring, and enabling work which will allow construction to begin is already underway at the Crumpsall site, said Lord Nick Markham, the minister for the Lords who is responsible for the government's new hospital programme.

Boris Johnson vowed to rebuild North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) as one of the '40 new hospitals' commitment made many times by the then-Prime Minister following his election victory. But doctors, hospital leaders and councillors alike have raised questions over whether the promise would be kept after years of waiting for movement.

But, in an exclusive interview with the M.E.N., the man responsible for the delivery of the government's 'New Hospitals Programme' confirmed key dates after years of promises that the crumbling Victorian estate would be rebuilt.