The consortium raised the money through a combination of equity and debt from Bank of Scotland Corporate.

The scheme will see the existing hospital knocked down and replaced with a new 65,000 sq m hospital run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust under a 30-year concession.
 
The new hospital will provide all inpatient accommodation in single en-suite bedrooms making it the first NHS acute hospital of its kind in the UK. The hospital designed by  Anshen and Allen incorporates the concept of hospitals within a hospital with separate planned and emergency areas to reduce the risk of infection, in-patient bedrooms designed to minimise falls and the separation of inpatient and outpatient facilities to address issues of patient privacy and dignity.

David Hardy, director of John Laing Investments said: "The Consortium is delighted to be involved in such a landmark health project which will provide outstanding healthcare facilities for the people of West Kent and East Sussex".

Construction which will be carried out in two phases will begin in April 2008.