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PRESS RELEASE: 9 November 2005

Clinical and research centre reaches milestone

left to right: Dr Simon Griffin, MRC, Professor Stephen O'Rahilly, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine, Dr Mary Archer, Addenbrooke's Chairman, Malcolm Stamp, Addenbrooke's Chief Executive, Professor Ian Leslie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

The Elective Care, Genetics and Diabetes Centre, an £85 million development on the Addenbrooke's Hospital campus which will provide facilities for elective (planned) surgery, and for genetics and diabetes, reached another milestone today (4 November 2005) when a topping out ceremony was held.

Malcolm Stamp, Addenbrooke's chief executive, Dr Simon Griffin of the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Professor Ian Leslie, pro-vice- chancellor of the University of Cambridge represented the three institutions that will share the building.

The new centre, which is planned to open in spring 2007, will house facilities for surgery, including theatres, sterile services and wards, endoscopy, genetics and diabetes. It will be the only centre of its kind in the country to combine patient care with academic research.

The clinical facilities in the centre will be set aside for planned surgery. This will help reduce the incidence of operations being cancelled because of emergency procedures taking priority. The extra capacity will help the hospital meet government targets to reduce waiting times for operations and improve the service for patients.

Facilities for genetics and diabetes will also be incorporated in the building. The Genetics Service, a developing and high profile specialty, will relocate to this new facility from three areas on the hospital campus. The Diabetes Centre, incorporating CIDEM (Cambridge Institute for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism), will bring together clinical and research work which will translate directly into new therapies for patients. The hospital will benefit from the partnership of the University of Cambridge and the MRC (Medical Research Council) Epidemiology Unit who are joining in this initiative to bring together clinical services and research facilities for diabetes.

The centre is being designed, built, financed and maintained by Key Health Services, a consortium between Alfred McAlpine and Hayden Young. Addenbrooke's will pay a monthly fee for the facilities. This PFI scheme differs from other schemes reported in the media in that the centre is an addition to an existing hospital and will be fully integrated within the Trust, not run as a separate facility.

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For further press/media information contact: PR & Communications Department, Box 53, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ; Tel: 01223 274 433; Fax: 01223 257 143; Minicom: 01223 274 604.