The development of a new operating facility for Leeds Children’s Hospital has achieved a major milestone. The occasion was celebrated on site by young patients Ruby and Isabella together with BAM Construction last week as the ground works were completed. “It’s been a complex build but all the hard work
Any contractor that will get appointed to the stalled Midland Metropolitan hospital project in Sandwell will have to adhere to the requirements that have been set out by construction union Unite. Originally planned to become operational this month, the hospital project has been stalled since the main contractor Carillion collapsed
The managing contract to complete the troubled Royal Liverpool hospital project has been handed to Laing O’Rourke. Following the collapse of the Carillion, the project stalled, and is now hoped to restart next month. However, the appointment of Laing O’Rourke has raised concerns among the UK construction union Unite. Unite
The plans for Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) have been revealed by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. While the plans include a dedicated Children’s Hospital on the Leeds General Infirmary site, proposals have also been submitted to Leeds City Council for discussion at a pre-planning application presentation. The first hospital building
A £39.5 million hospital transformation programme for the Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal Hospitals will be delivered by construction firm Kier. Secured through the Procure22 framework, the project is set to modernise hospital buildings to underpin service transformation and provide the next generation of care at the country’s two main
More than 100 guests donned their hard hats and gathered on site at the new £33.5m Circle Birmingham Hospital in Edgbaston for a ceremony to mark the project’s progress. Guests of honour attending the event at the former Pebble Mill site included the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Yvonne Mosquito
The development of a new operating facility for Leeds Children’s Hospital has achieved a major milestone. The occasion was celebrated on site by young patients Ruby and Isabella together with BAM Construction last week as the ground works were completed. “It’s been a complex build but all the hard work is worthwhile when we see children like Ruby and Isabella, who have personally benefitted from the facilities here at Leeds Children’s Hospital. It’s an honour to be providing a state of the art facility to help improve the lives of children from across Yorkshire and Humber,” commented Daniel Marsh, Senior Site Manager at BAM Construction. The new facility is a purpose-built cardiac hybrid theatre for undertaking complex heart procedures on children and young people, as well as an intraoperative MRI facility for neurosurgery. It is linked directly to the existing theatres in Clarendon Wing and will enable cardiac surgeons and cardiologists to work together during the same procedure which means the skills of both specialists can be employed together, reducing treatment time for patients. “We are very excited to be one step closer to the completion of this build. The new facility is purpose built and designed specifically for the care of children and young people, which gives us a dedicated space to perform this very complex and specialist surgery,” said Carin van Doorn, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon and Clinical Lead for Congenital Cardiac Surgery. “This new facility wouldn’t be possible without the support of Leeds Cares and the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund who have campaigned tirelessly to raise vital funds and to support us in providing the best possible care,” Carin added. The development is being delivered with donations from patients, their families, and the public through the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund’s ‘Keeping the Beat’ campaign and Leeds Cares.
Any contractor that will get appointed to the stalled Midland Metropolitan hospital project in Sandwell will have to adhere to the requirements that have been set out by construction union Unite. Originally planned to become operational this month, the hospital project has been stalled since the main contractor Carillion collapsed in January 2018 and it is not expected to be completed until at least 2022. In order to ensure workers are treated fairly and not exploited whenever the project resumes, the union wrote to Toby Lewis, chief executive of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust to seek that any contractor appointed to the project adheres to the following requirements: Adhere to national industrial agreements that govern pay and conditions Use local labour and suppliers Workers are directly employed (not employed under a form of bogus self-employment) Exploitative forms of employment such as umbrella companies are outlawed Trade unions are recognised and are given proper access to the workforce. “Local residents desperately need a new hospital which must become operational as early as possible but this must not be at the expense of the construction workers who will undertake this vitally needed work,” said Unite regional officer Su Lowe. “Exploitation can only be prevented and fair treatment guaranteed by recognising industrial agreements, guaranteeing direct employment and allowing unions proper access to the workforce. Unless workers are treated fairly and decently there is likely to be further problems with the construction of this site, which will create even more delays, causing even greater misery for patients and staff,” So Lowe added. The local NHS Trust is working to appoint a contractor for the project.
The managing contract to complete the troubled Royal Liverpool hospital project has been handed to Laing O’Rourke. Following the collapse of the Carillion, the project stalled, and is now hoped to restart next month. However, the appointment of Laing O’Rourke has raised concerns among the UK construction union Unite. Unite will apply greater pressure to the client, the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University NHS Trust, to establish clear rules that will ensure proper union recognition and fair treatment of the workforce. “Unite is committed to ensuring that the Royal Liverpool hospital is completed as quickly as possible but that must not be at the expense of workers rights or to the detriment of their health and safety,” said Unite regional officer Colin Carr. Unite has already seeked guarantees from Adrian Kehoe, the trust’s chief executive, that the contractors will adhere to national industrial agreements that govern pay and conditions; will use local labour and suppliers; workers are directly employed; exploitative forms of employment, such as umbrella companies, are outlawed; and trade unions are recognised and are given proper access to the workforce. “Providing there is clear leadership from the Trust, Unite looks forward to working together with Laing O’Rourke to ensure that workers are properly treated and the mistakes made on previous hospital contracts in Liverpool are not repeated,” said Colin. “However, given the battle there has been to get the project restarted and for it to become a directly funded public sector project with the cancellation of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), Unite will not stand idly by and allow construction workers on the Royal Liverpool to be exploited or for unions to be denied access,” he added. The concerns raised by Unite will be discussed at a meeting on Tuesday, the 13th of November, with the project being expected to be completed in 2020.
The plans for Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) have been revealed by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. While the plans include a dedicated Children’s Hospital on the Leeds General Infirmary site, proposals have also been submitted to Leeds City Council for discussion at a pre-planning application presentation. The first hospital building will be joined to the LGI’s Jubilee Wing, extending health services for adults. Among its facilities will be a new theatre suite dedicated to day case procedures, endoscopy and radiology services and a central Outpatients department supported by key services like pharmacy. In addition, the new building will offer more critical care capacity, allowing the LGI to expand its highly specialist services, such as major trauma or cardiac care, and to develop further specialist healthcare in the future. “This is a really exciting development for our hospitals that will be a huge step forward in the way we provide healthcare for patients in Leeds and the wider region,” said Julian Hartley, Chief Executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. “By designing hospital buildings from the ground up, we’ll be able to embrace new technologies and innovation to deliver modern, efficient health services that are tailored to our patients’ needs, not just now but in the future,” he added. The second hospital building will be solely dedicated to children. For the first time in Leeds, this will bring together staff and services from the current Children’s Hospital in the LGI’s Clarendon and Martin wings to deliver health services for children and young people in purpose-built facilities dedicated solely to their needs.
A £39.5 million hospital transformation programme for the Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal Hospitals will be delivered by construction firm Kier. Secured through the Procure22 framework, the project is set to modernise hospital buildings to underpin service transformation and provide the next generation of care at the country’s two main acute hospitals. “Kier is delighted to have been chosen by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation to deliver such an important healthcare development programme for the region, under the P22 framework,” said Ben Ramsay, operations director at Kier. “We understand this programme of building modernisation is vital to underpin important service transformation at both Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal Hospitals. We’re looking forward to working with the Gloucestershire supply chain and local community to provide many employment opportunities and create a number of new jobs in the upcoming years. It also presents a great opportunity to support Shaping Your World™, an industry-wide campaign to inspire 11-15 year-olds to pursue careers in the built environment,” Ben added. The plans for both sites are being developed collaboratively by Kier and the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, expecting funding that will be focused on theatre provision at Cheltenham General and acute care pathways at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. “We are delighted to be working with Kier on this exciting project; they have considerable experience of working with public sector partners to deliver innovative solutions and I am confident that with their help this investment will ensure both our hospitals are increasingly well placed to deliver the very best care for our patients and support our developing vision for Centres of Excellence,” said Deborah Lee, Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
More than 100 guests donned their hard hats and gathered on site at the new £33.5m Circle Birmingham Hospital in Edgbaston for a ceremony to mark the project’s progress. Guests of honour attending the event at the former Pebble Mill site included the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Yvonne Mosquito and Councillor Dierdre Alden. The ceremony included the unveiling of a plaque to mark the ‘topping out’ stage of the build. The hospital, which is being built by Simons Group, will be complete in Summer 2019 and will be the second largest private hospital in the UK. It will be an addition to Circle Health’s other hospitals in Bath, Nottingham and Reading. Guests including surgeons and other health professionals, along with all site workers who were invited to down tools especially for the event, watched the ceremonial unveiling.
