Alder Hey Hospital was built in 1911

Plans for the facility at Springfield Park are being reviewed to ensure it remains affordable and adheres to recent government guidelines.

But the hospital trust said this was not linked to a potential alternative option of rebuilding in Widnes.

All business cases for major hospital developments are required to examine other options, the trust said.

The Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust is to rebuild the hospital under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and says it needs to make sure the �300m plan is affordable.

We are working hard to deliver something in Liverpool on Springfield Park Terry Windle, Alder Hey

In July, the government said all PFIs - built using private cash, but paid for over time by the NHS - were being reviewed.

In addition to this, a white paper published in January promised NHS resources would be shifted away from acute hospitals to help provide more care in the community.

Plans for the redevelopment of the children's hospital were unveiled in 2005 - before those developments.

The plans are being reviewed to ensure it remains affordable and fits with the government guidelines.

Terry Windle, Alder Hey's Director of Strategic Developments, said: "We have to make sure the income we project over the next 30 years is sufficient so that we can maintain mortgage repayments.

"We are looking to make sure what we design and build is affordable."

Planning permission

He said the alternative plans to rebuild the hospital in Wilmere Lane, Widnes, were simply a "fall-back option".

"The link between affordability and Wilmere Lane [made in a newspaper] is a red herring," he added.

"We are working hard to deliver something in Liverpool on Springfield Park."