Harold patients will not be using the proposed new hospital at Romford until the autumn of 2005, Havering Hospitals NHS Trust has admitted.

It insists it is on course to meet its target date for opening, but Brentwood and Ongar MP Eric Pickles said: "Getting this admission has been like pulling teeth with cotton wool."

He added: "At long last they have stated that it will be autumn 2005 at the earliest before patients start using the proposed hospital at Oldchurch Park, and that building is unlikely to start until 2002.

"That means a six year delay for patients and staff as the original plan was for the new purpose built hospital on the Harold Wood site to open in 1999.

"Now we have an admission that patients and staff will have to continue working in the Victorian conditions and poor facilities at Oldchurch Hospital for about another six years.

"I predict that even the autumn 2005 target date is optimistic. Next year sees the merger of three hospitals into one trust with all the problems that will bring.

"We still have to see which private sector financiers will be prepared to support this investment in a new hospital and how much they are prepared to put in to the project."

But Havering Hospitals NHS Trust says it is disappointed about the remarks made by Mr Pickles.

A spokesman said: "The planning of the new hospital is progressing as quickly as possible for a project of this size and complexity.

"The timescale for selecting a private sector partner and designing the hospital are entirely consistent with the usual timetable for a scheme of this kind.

"In talking about delay, Eric Pickles is clearly confusing this project with one of the many earlier schemes which have been put forward over the last few years and this is very misleading."

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