Hospital contractor chosen

Tomorrow's Whitehaven News reports that Laing O'Rourke has won the contract for the rebuild/refurbishment of West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

Earlier this month I met NHS Trust CEO Carole Heatly with Cllr Yvonne Clarkson, chair of the Copeland council overview and scrutiny committee dealing with health. We had a constructive discussion about a number of issues, and one thing which Yvonne and I were keen to see was that the hospital project went forward as quickly as was compatible with due diligence and getting the rebuild right to deliver a safe and effective service. We were assured that progress was happening to achieve this this and this week's announcements backs up that statement. This his progress on assigning the contract is most welcome.

More details on my hospital campaign blog - see link at right.

Comments

Adam R said…
Oh good, another private firm holds the responsibility for Copeland's health.

So if they cut corners and do a botch job we can hold you personally responsible can we?
9:39 am
Chris Whiteside said…
I've got news for you - the Department of Health does not have an in-house building arm. The only way to get hospitals built is to give the contract to builders.

However, you do need to have a good "client" organisation to make sure that the job is done properly and the taxpayer gets value for money - and the contracts need to be much better designed than many PFI ones such as Carlisle Infirmary.

In this case it is not a PFI contract.
8:16 pm
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