New hospital dooms Bart's

Supporters of St Bartholomew's, the famed 900-year-old hospital in the City of London, yesterday vowed to fight on as plans were unveiled for a new hospital nearby which will mean its almost certain closure.

The pounds 300m 1,100-bed development, on the site of the present Royal London Hospital NHS Trust in Whitechapel, will be the biggest health service project yet under the Government's Private Finance Initiative for funding public projects.

A cash injection of pounds 200m is needed to save the health service from crisis this winter, a review of health authorities and trusts found, confirming doctors' warnings of severe financial problems. The National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts said the NHS was "pulling out all the stops" to ensure that emergency and intensive care services were ready for the surge in demand. Liz Hunt