The move was confirmed by health minister John Hutton in response to a parliamentary question last month. Hutton said: "Designs will be reviewed at the earliest stages of the procurement process, before a preferred bidder is chosen."
The panel is the latest push by CABE to improve design quality on hospital schemes – last year it forced health trusts to appoint local design champions to oversee building plans.
News of the panel emerged as NHS Estates and CABE announced that they would be collaborating to promote design quality in smaller healthcare projects.
The two will oversee the designs of 13 projects – five acute hospitals, five primary care schemes and three one-stop shop health centres.
Designs will be reviewed at the earliest stages of the procurement process
John Hutton, minister for health
CABE said it was proposing national competitions to establish design benchmarks. These would be similar to the benchmark planned for the £45m Walsall hospital in the West Midlands.
The tie-up was announced by Lord Hunt, the Department of Health's ministerial design champion, at the Primary Care Design Conference in London on Wednesday.
NHS Estates has confirmed the appointment of architect Vijay Taheem as its head of design – a newly created role.
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