NHS to take over state-of-the-art hospital from private health group in ‘windfall’

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An NHS trust is taking over a state-of-the-art hospital from a leading private healthcare group after it failed to attract enough paying patients to use it.Barts Health trust in London will turn Nuffield Health’s facility into a dedicated NHS breast cancer diagnosis and treatment centre when it gains control next month.The not-for-profit private health operator took a 30-year-lease on two dilapidated empty Barts trust buildings in 2022 and spent £65m refurbishing them for a hospital for heart disease and joint problems.But it has decided to shut the hospital next week less than four years into an arrangement that was intended to grow its business and generate millions of pounds in rental income for Barts Health.It is selling the lease back to the NHS trust, where senior figures are delighted that Nuffield’s setback has resulted in what one called “a windfall” and chance to expand the care it provides.

The two buildings face each other beside St Bartholomew’s NHS hospital in the City of London, which at more than 900 years old is widely thought to be England’s oldest hospital,The closure raises questions over whether private healthcare is enjoying the boom in the UK that market analysts have predicted amid long waits for NHS treatment,It has also left an estimated 180 nurses and other clinical staff at Nuffield’s hospital facing the threat of redundancy when it shuts its doors next Wednesday,“We don’t want to gloat about this, because we’ve had a good partnership with Nuffield Health,But these two buildings have fallen into our lap.

It’s like a windfall,” said a Barts trust source.“We leased them two derelict buildings and are getting back two modern, fully equipped hospitals.”The buildings have 55 beds, three operating theatres, consulting rooms and CT and MRI scanners.It is thought to be the first time the NHS has inherited ready-to-use health facilities in this way.The Barts Charity is giving the trust £16.

6m – its biggest donation ever – to cover the costs of converting the premises into the breast cancer centre, which is due to open in January.It will be “a transformative moment for the health of people in east London,” said Fiona Miller Smith, the charity’s chief executive.It is unknown how much the trust is giving Nuffield Health for the lease.Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionNuffield Health, a registered charity that also runs gyms, makes almost £1.5bn a year in income, with just over £1bn of that coming from its network of 36 – soon to be 35 – hospitals.

It has given little detail about why it decided to shut the hospital,A brief statement on its website says simply that it will be “selling back the lease of our hospital at St Bartholomew’s to Barts Health NHS trust, with the handover planned for December 2025”,A well-placed source said Nuffield had made “a commercial decision to pull out of its flagship London hospital” after its expectations of an increasing number of patients were not realised,A source said the closure showed that the capital has more private health capacity than people willing to pay,Alex Perry, Nuffield Health’s chief executive, said its exit “marks a positive conclusion to our partnership with [Barts] trust”.

It plans to expand the range of services it offers at its other London facilities and care for its Barts site patients there.A spokesperson for the group said: “Nuffield Health has agreed to sell back our lease on part of St Bartholomew’s hospital to Bart’s Health NHS trust.This decision reflects how our London hospital portfolio has evolved and allows us to focus investment on high quality care in our other London hospitals that we’ve acquired since initiating the Barts project.”It hopes to redeploy some of the staff to other premises and help others find jobs with other private healthcare providers in the capital.Barts Health said it hoped to employ some of the nurses to help staff the breast cancer centre.

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How to turn the dregs of a tin of golden syrup into a delectable toffee sauce – recipe | Waste not

Lyle’s golden syrup comes in the most ornate and nostalgic of tins, but the syrup inside often proves almost impossible to extract entirely. Turn what might otherwise be wasted into this luxurious toffee sauce to savour on Bonfire Night, especially when drizzled generously over cinnamon baked apples with scoops of vanilla ice-cream.Apples transform beautifully when baked, turning this hyper-seasonal fruit into a super-simple yet decadent dessert. I prefer cox or braeburn varieties (ie, something not too large), so you can serve one apple per person.Gordon Ramsay’s recipes are my go-to for traditional techniques that deliver reliable results

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Mirepoix kimchi and vegetarian umami chilli: Kenji Morimoto’s recipes for cooking with homemade ferments

Cooking with ferments brings a tremendous amount of flavour to whatever you’re making, and it’s a great way to showcase how an ingredient evolves through the application of heat. The idea of combining a Korean preservation method with a French technique is exactly what I love about creativity in the kitchen. This mirepoix kimchi is not just a fun ferment to dot on savoury oatmeal or eat alongside cheese, but it also acts as the backbone for a plant-based, umami-filled chilli.This versatile, umami-rich paste is a twist on the classic mirepoix and can be used to add a hit of flavour to everything from soups to marinades, or even enjoyed as is.Prep 10 min Ferment 2 weeks+ Makes 500ml jar150g carrot 150g white onion 150g celery 13½g salt (or 3% of the total weight of the first three ingredients)½ tbsp red miso, or fish sauce½ tbsp sugar 15g gochugaru chilli flakesRoughly chop the vegetables (there is no need to peel the carrots if they have been rinsed), then put them in a food processor

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The many uses of leftover chutney, from breakfast to soups and glazes | Kitchen aide

Every Christmas I’m given chutney, and I still have four barely used jars. What to do with them before the next lot arrive? Christine, OxfordThis sounds like a job for Claire Dinhut, author of The Condiment Book, who also goes by the moniker Condiment Claire. She would approach this meal by meal, starting with breakfast. “It might not seem so obvious,” she says, “but I put Branston pickle on my avocado toast. If you think about it, you often add acidity, which is usually lemon, but chutney is punchy and has that same tang, as well as a bit of texture

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Divine dining: Australian church restaurants claim their own devout followings

At these places of worship, secular and churchgoing diners place their orders for coffee, curry puffs and za’atar pastries, served with kindnessGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailOn Sunday mornings, thousands stream through Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral, a Lebanese Maronite Catholic church in Sydney’s western suburbs. In between back-to-back mass services, worshippers rush to its onsite cafe, Five Loaves.“Sunday is our busiest day,” says Yasmin Salim, who has fronted the counter for eight years. Lines are long and diners’ appetites are large: a single customer might ask for 10 pizzas and 10 pastries flavoured with za’atar, the Middle Eastern herb mix. “It’s like at Maccas, everyone wants their french fries,” says Salim

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How to make rotis – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

These staple north Indian flatbreads come in a variety of forms – thinner, softer versions cooked on a flat tawa are also known as chapatis, while phulkas employ the same dough, but are held over a flame until they puff like a balloon. Either way, they’re great for scooping up meat and vegetables, or for mopping up sauce. Years of practice makes perfect, but this recipe is a good place to start.Prep 25 min Rest 30 min Cook 15 min Makes 8165g atta (chapati) flour, plus extra for dusting (see step 1)¼ tsp fine salt 1 tsp neutral oil Melted ghee or butter, to serve (optional)If you can’t find atta flour, which is a flavourful, very finely milled wholemeal flour that can be found in south Asian specialists and larger supermarkets, food writer Roopa Gulati recommends using a 50:50 mixture of plain flour and wholemeal flour instead. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl, whisk briefly, then make a well in the middle

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Pancakes, cheesecakes, dips, breads, mousses and … ice-cream? 17 mostly delicious ways with cottage cheese

High in protein, low in fat, the 70s ‘superfood’ is having another moment. Its fans say you can do almost anything with it. But should you?When I heard that cottage cheese was experiencing some kind of renaissance, my first thought was: “This is what comes of complacency.” I’d thought of cottage cheese as being safely extinct, but per capita consumption statistics show that, while it fell slightly out of favour, it never really went away. And now it’s having a moment