Hospital construction delays reach critical phase
Delays to the Midland Metropolitan Hospital are reaching a critical phase with interim contractor arrangements still not in place nearly three months after the collapse of Carillion.
The impact of the construction giant’s liquidation to Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Hospitals Trust has been estimated at £28m. The trust is seeking financial support from NHS England and NHS Improvement to deal with the unforeseen cost caused by the delays and restructuring.
Toby Lewis, chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Hospitals Trust, has said “it is clear that the next month must represent a decision moment for our Trust, and for government”.
He added: “The urgency of a new build opening is apparent to us all. Any delay beyond March 2020 has to be considered extremely sub optimal and it is important that the views and pressures of those providing care are clearly heard and responded to in the evaluation of options.”
30 Carillion staff who were working on the Midland Met project were made redundant by liquidators PwC on February 28.
In the latest update by the Official Receiver, it confirmed a further 873 jobs have been saved with employees transferring to new suppliers who have picked up contracts that Carillion had been delivering. It brings the running total to 9,946 jobs saved, which was 54% of the pre-liquidation workforce.
However it also confirmed a further 97 redundancies with 1,802 jobs – 10% of the total – now lost since Carillion’s collapse.
