Asset management and construction consultant to the healthcare sector Currie & Brown said it “worked around the clock” to ensure that the £200 million New Victoria and Stobhill Hospitals PFI project for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde reached another major milestone with the opening of the new Victoria hospital on time.
The New Victoria Hospital welcomed its first patients on 8 June, a “groundhog day” for the team at Currie & Brown, which achieved similar success with the opening of the New Stobhill hospital just four weeks previously.
Currie & Brown is the lead technical adviser on the PFI-funded initiative to deliver the two brand new hospitals, at a cost of £100 million each, for the city of Glasgow as part of the Health Board¹s ambitious modernisation programme.
The firm was also responsible for the planning and implementation of a massive migration operation to transfer staff and equipment into the new buildings from multiple locations in Glasgow. It is a hugely complex operation that will see hundreds of staff and over 7,000 packing crates moved into 2,550 new rooms at the hospitals.
Alastair Stewart, the divisional director at Currie & Brown who has led the project from inception over five years ago, said: “This was one of the largest, most complex PFI healthcare projects in Scotland, involving the design, cost management, construction and commissioning of not one, but two hospitals at the same time. Despite its complexity, we ensured that the project came in on time and within budget.
“In addition, on both sites, over 26,000 snagging items were all cleared by the required handover dates. This is extremely unusual for any construction project, and is a major achievement for a project of this size and complexity.”
The two new centres offer one-stop diagnostic and treatment centres that are purpose built for outpatient, day care and day surgery. They will revolutionise patient care, transforming the balance of acute hospital care away from inpatient overnight procedures to same day treatment. The two hospitals will handle approximately 800,000 patients every year.
Throughout the project, Currie & Brown worked closely with healthcare specialists Atkins, Keppie Design and consulting engineers McLay Collier.
The Scottish division of Currie & Brown employs around 120 staff between its offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and advises on some of Scotland¹s biggest healthcare projects.
The firm has recently expanded its Scottish healthcare team with six new appointments across different disciplines.
