Fire safety fears mean Royal Papworth Hospital opening to be delayed 'by months'

The opening of the new £165m Royal Papworth Hospital will be delayed by months - because of fire safety fears over cladding in the building.

The Cambridge Biomedical Campus site was due to be handed over to the NHS trust next month ahead of welcoming its first patients in September.

But today, chief executive Stephen Posey announced that would all be pushed back after discovering combustible insulation had been used in the building's ground and first-floor cladding.

Construction company Skanska recently told the Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust that tests on the building had discovered insulation material did "not meet our original requirements in the lower part of the hospital building".

A spokesman for Papworth confirmed the insulation used in the cladding system "are combustible products". He added that while the material was in general use in other buildings, the trust had specifically asked for non-combustible products.

Skanska is working to fix the mistake but "early indications suggest it will take a number of months".

Royal Papworth said it had a duty to "uphold the highest safety standards" for patients and staff. Because of that, directors decided it would be best to remain on the old Papworth Everard site until the remedial work was complete.

Papworth Hospital, which is famous for its pioneering heart and lung surgeries, became Royal Papworth on January 1 after being given the royal title by the Queen.

The UK's first successful heart transplant was carried out in the hospital in 1979.