Site brief developed with land agents and high level evaluation of sites and application of pass/fail 'hurdle' criteria

In Summer 2023, the Trust asked a specialist land agency to identify a range of potential sites for the new Frimley Park Hospital. To this list of possible sites, pass or fail criteria was applied to rule out those that were unsuitable. This included whether the land was at least 20 developmental acres, whether there was an obvious planning risk, and if the land owner was willing to sell within an acceptable timescale.

Feedback from initial engagement and technical site evaluation applied to priority sites

For the next step, the Trust looked at 14 technical criteria and considered the feedback from the public and staff engagement, including the overall ability to deliver for 2030, transport, distance from current site, and the relative cost. The feedback from the first public and staff engagement period and a technical evaluation of the sites also fed into this.

Following this process, a number of ‘preferred sites’ have been shortlisted, which were recently approved by Frimley Health Board.

Due diligence on preferred sites

The Trust is now undertaking a continued level of due diligence on the preferred sites to complete legal and planning analysis before any further decisions can be made.

We have entered into confidentially agreements with the landowners of our preferred sites. To protect those agreements, we cannot disclose further information relating to the sites or their locations while we continue our due diligence.

Site evaluation outcomes and next steps

We will know the outcome of the site evaluation later this year, when we will start the process of purchasing our preferred site. We will, of course, undertake further public and staff engagement later this year.

The Trust remains on track to redevelop Frimley Park Hospital for 2030 and is working closely with all partners to enable the programme plan to achieve this challenging deadline.