Luxembourg, 16/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - Works to improve the quality and efficiency of acute hospital services in Blackburn are being supported with a £50 million (€80.4) loan from the European Investment Bank, the European Union's long-term financing institution. EIB's contribution is being financed through a back-to-back index-linked bond issue and by involving EIB, the project has gained access to very long maturity funding at a highly competitive cost. The project is promoted by the Blackburn, Hyndburn & Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust, a public sector statutory body that provides acute general hospital services and delivers to certain non-clinical buildings services to a population of around 504,000. The EIB loan is for investment to deliver a general hospital in Blackburn that will be relocated to the single site Hospital being carried out by Consort Healthcare (Blackburn) Limited (“Consort”), a special purpose concession company that has been awarded a 38-year concession to design, build and finance the works associated with the extension of the hospital. Consort is owned by Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Investments Ltd and by HSBC Infrastructure Fund Management Limited. Following the project's completion, one of the town's two existing acute hospital sites, Blackburn Royal Infirmary, will close and its services will be relocated to the site of the existing Queens Park Hospital.