THE team behind a new palliative care centre at the James Paget University Hospital are confident they will be able to go ahead with the �1.5m centre soon, even though they are awaiting the results of a key report on end-of-life care.

THE team behind a new palliative care centre at the James Paget University Hospital are confident they will be able to go ahead with the �1.5m centre soon, even though they are awaiting the results of a key report on end-of-life care.

Frustrations about the time it is taking to get building work on the centre started emerged this week. But a leading local medical figure insists there is still excitement about the project.

NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney has completed phase two of the delivering end-of-life care survey to determine what services should be provided for people with terminal illnesses in Yarmouth borough.

Once the primary care trust has finished the third and final phase of the report, establishing what facilities should be provided, the palliative care team will be clear to start the building process for the new centre in the James Paget grounds.

Patrick Blossfeldt, lead consultant in palliative care at the hospital, said the second phase of the report recommended the type of services that should be provided, including a tele-phone line and specialist psychological support and information.

The third phase provided a clear vision of the type of facilities needed to provide these services, including a clear shape for the buildings and the running costs involved.

Mr Blossfeldt said he was confident that care trust planners would give the go-ahead for the centre, although he did not know when this would be.

Once the nod has been given, architects will draw up detailed plans for the building and it can then go out to tender.

Plans will then be submitted to Yarmouth Borough Council for approval, and building work will

begin, assuming consent is granted.

However, Mr Blossfeldt warned it could be one-and-a-half years from NHS Yarmouth and Waveney giving the go- ahead to completion of the centre.

He said: “We all want to see the diggers going in and the centre taking shape, and the excitement is still there.

“But there is a certain amount of frustration on our side that we can't go ahead quite yet.

“Members of the public are asking us the same question, as they want to see it taking shape.”