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Sale of land at the Churchill Hospital

16 April 2019 Please pass this message onto staff who do not have access to email.

I wrote earlier today to all staff at the Churchill Hospital to tell them the news that the Board of OUH have agreed to sell 10 acres of land on the east side of the Churchill Hospital site to the University of Oxford.

This is the land on the right hand side of the Churchill map (not including the H blocks that are the A2 Dominion housing).

The sale will enable the Trust to relocate the Haemophilia & Thrombosis Centre, laboratories, stores, Pharmacy Aseptic Unit and Infectious Diseases’ Outpatient  and Clinical Trials space to modern, better environments. The Trust will lease back the land and buildings for three years to enable them to prepare new quarters for these services. This means that patients and staff will not see any changes of location until their new premises are ready.  The intention is that these services will move to specially commissioned space on the Churchill or other hospital sites.  The relocation of Radio Cherwell will also need to be planned.

The space also incorporates staff car parks A, D and E. These are being leased back on a longer lease from the University of Oxford (six years), until they can be fully reprovided elsewhere on the Churchill Hospital site. The aim ultimately is to have a multi storey car park on the Churchill site that brings together the car parking in one place.

Funds from this sale will go towards funding other future capital developments to benefit patients and staff across the Trust.

Ultimately, the University of Oxford and the Trust are working together on a joint vision of a world class hub for health and research on the Churchill Hospital/Old Road Campus site based on the innovative life sciences industrial strategy. The part of the Churchill Hospital site acquired by the University of Oxford will be used to further that aim.

As you will know, the buildings on the east side of the Churchill site are in poor condition and this is also part of the site which is relatively sparsely occupied. The Trust has already moved a number of services to improved locations – for example, the John Warin Ward moved from this area to a specially commissioned ward in the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Both the University of Oxford and the Trust are acutely aware that this land abuts the Lye Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest and the needs of this rare and popular nature reserve will be integral to any future plans.

Jason Dorsett

Chief Finance Officer