Health services in Oxfordshire received another boost today - a Government handout of £3.5m.
The money will enable the authority to carry out a modernisation programme in the NHS, including the relocation and redesign of Oxford's health services.
Michael Taylor, chief executive of Oxfordshire Health Authority, said: "There is a special allocation for a few health authorities that are in the process of making major changes. We are one of only two health authorities in the South East region that succeeded in winning money.
"It will be used to help us push forward a host of schemes."
The health authority confirmed a large and complex modernisation programme is already taking place with support from special assistance funds.
The programme involves the relocation and redesign of health services both at acute and community hospitals. This includes the transfer of services from the Radcliffe Infirmary to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals sites and redevelopment of the orthopaedic medicine and surgery at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.
No final decision has been made about the final relocation package, nor about the future of the community hospitals threatened with closure under health authority cuts.
The Government earmarked this latest cash as part of a nationwide £41.7m package of special assistance to 15 health authorities in England. Health minister John Denham said much of the money is aimed at helping health authorities instigate cost-cutting plans.
He said: "This new investment will target money at areas with specific local needs and where the greatest changes are taking place in local health services."
It comes a day after Tony Blair announced a £1m grant to help pay for improvements to the Accident and Emergency department at the John Radcliffe Hospital.
Work at the hospital should begin next year on the £7m project, with the remaining £6m coming from the NHS regional office and a fundraising scheme called 'Every Second Counts'.
Story date: Wednesday 17 February
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