Surgery in the flourishing Manchester health property sector? It looks like at least one deep cut has taken place, as Nuffield Healthcare shelve plans for a £60M flagship hospital next to the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

The hospital development on the 5-acre site at Hathersage Road, acquired in July 2014 from Manchester Metropolitan University, has been put on hold. It was to have been built in partnership with Bruntwood, who are also the strategic property partner to the Royal Infirmary's NHS Trust.

"The project is on hold and being reviewed, given market conditions and the length of time new build takes. But we remain committed to Manchester," Nuffield said in a statement. Bruntwood declined to comment.

The hospital's focus on preventive health and rehabilitation was to be the keystone of a range of Manchester initiatives, others of which are still going ahead.

In 2016 Nuffield Health opened an MRI, X-ray, mammography, CT, cardiac and ultrasound diagnostic suite in 7K SF at Bruntwood's Citylabs, Manchester.

Citylabs is part of a growing infrastructure of Manchester life science properties already proving to be one of the fastest-growing sectors of the city's commercial property market.