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Aga Khan in row with St Thomas' Hospital over cultural centre plan

Consultants at St Thomas' are preparing to chain themselves to railings if the southern end of the hospital site is sold to the Aga Khan.

The triangle of land is opposite Lambeth Palace and used to be part of the hospital but due to a complicated legal change in ownership the land is now under the control of King's College. One of the buildings is occupied by part of the medical school library.

The consultants are insisting that the site should remain part of the NHS in order that the hospital can expand. However, the NHS trust can only afford to pay £12 to secure the site whilst the Aga Khan is offering £24m. He hopes to build an Islamic cultural centre to include a museum, library, university and an open space.

The Aga Khan's spokesman says that the plan would benefit the hospital with opportunities for collaboration on medical research.
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