Young people and families mark Cambridge Children’s Hospital project milestone

Young people and their families visited the area where the future Cambridge Children’s Hospital will be built to celebrate their photos being displayed as part of this project milestone.

Images of nine children and young people feature on the 80-metre stretch of hoardings, opposite the Rosie Hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

It runs along the front of the site where construction on the East of England’s first specialist children’s hospital is expected to start in autumn 2026.

This latest milestone for the project follows on from the Outline Business Case being fully signed off by the Secretary of State. Work is now under way to appoint a construction partner, with building work expected to be finished in 2029.

Born at Addenbrooke’s Hospital at just 24 weeks gestation, Alisha, from Cambridge, has overcome multiple hurdles to get where she is today.

She had a heart operation at just six weeks old – and has been an outpatient at Addenbrooke’s her whole life, visiting the eye, cardiology, respiratory, physiotherapy and countless more clinics.

The teenager is one of the young people to feature on the hoardings and says she “can’t wait” for the new hospital to open.

Alisha’s passion for the hospital project enables her to give something back to those who saved her life, and will help to ensure the new hospital is the best it can be.

The 16-year-old said: “I initially became involved with the Cambridge Children’s project because of my own experiences in hospital and seeing for myself how services could have been improved. I have a big desire to help others so they can enjoy what I would’ve loved to see when I was a child in hospital.

“In a small way, it’s also about me giving back to Addenbrooke’s, whose staff have cared for me since I was born. I like to think of this as a fitting tribute to them for all their hard work and relentless hours they put into saving not just my life, but countless other lives as well.

“It’s a dream to think that this new children’s hospital, the first of its kind in the East of England, is finally coming to fruition. It will be the hospital that changes children’s and families’ lives for the better and will be recognised all around the world for its innovation.

“I can’t wait for this hospital to open its doors. It will be an amazing and momentous day. I hope we, and all the future children who get to use its incredible services, will remember and cherish it forever.”

The new hospital will not just support the child who is unwell, but also the whole family. That is because being in hospital affects everyone.

Oliver, 12, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of two and has spent most of his life in and out of hospital, with his sister, Macie, by his side.

Macie, 16, from Peterborough, says their journey may have been smoother if they’d had mental health support from the start.

“Having mental health support would have made a huge difference to Oliver,” she said. “He’s really struggled because of all the things he’s been through. It would have helped me as well, particularly when he was in a bad way.

“I would have liked to talk to someone I could be honest with, about home, school, feelings, rather than worrying my mum. Being in hospital and seeing and hearing what Oliver was going through was very scary.

“I hope the team building Cambridge Children’s Hospital will think about how to help siblings with anxiety and therefore prevent more problems within families.”

Whole genome sequencing is a vital avenue of exploration for families of children with undiagnosed and complex conditions. At the heart of the new hospital will be its Centre for Genomic Medicine, which will work to bring hope and answers for families, like Reuben’s.

Until recently, six-year-old Reuben, from the Cambridgeshire-Essex border, had what’s known as a SWAN – a Syndrome Without A Name. Something was definitely wrong, but no one knew what.

In December 2022, Reuben was diagnosed with an ultra rare neurodevelopmental condition called OTUD5. He is thought to be the only person in the UK with this condition and one of just a few dozen in the world.

As OTUD5 was only discovered in the past two years, it is hard to know what the future might hold for Reuben. However, without whole genome sequencing, his parents say they wouldn’t be where they are now.

“It’s difficult to explain the feeling those undiagnosed families go through. To get an answer is such a relief,” said Nathan, Reuben’s dad.

Cambridge Children’s Hospital is a partnership between Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH), which runs Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the county’s mental health services, along with the University of Cambridge.

The hospital, which will be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, will care for children and young people from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, but also nationally and internationally as a ‘hospital without walls’, embedding genomic and psychological research alongside clinical expertise in physical and mental child health.

Cambridge Children’s Hospital is described as a brand new state-of-the-art hospital designed to take care of the whole child, not just their illness.

It is being co-designed with the help of children, young people, families and healthcare professionals across the region to ensure the new hospital will meet the needs of patients, families and staff.