Off-site approach for Merseyside PFI

In the healthcare sector, more so than any other, delivering a new, flagship, state-of-the-art facility is not without considerable challenges; the complexity of creating a new hospital is staggering. Without teamwork, collaboration, and all signing up to the same goal, success is extremely difficult to achieve. The construction sector is changing, with small pockets of best practice developing as clients put more pressure on project teams to deliver work on time and with reduced risk. A collaborative approach is key to achieving innovative ways of working. Radical thinking is definitely not the easy option, but some projects are proving that taking a fresh approach to the construction process has ample rewards. In June 2006 a 35-year private finance initiative (PFI) contract was awarded by the St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to NewHospitals Consortium, comprising VINCI Construction UK and Innisfree. NG Bailey was appointed as M&E contractor alongside main contractor VINCI Construction UK, architect Capita Architecture, and consulting engineers RPS Gregory and Arup. St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is a busy acute Trust providing a full range of acute inpatient, outpatient, day case and emergency services to the local communities of St Helens, Knowsley, parts of Halton and Liverpool, and extending to the whole of Cheshire, Merseyside, North Wales and the Isle of Man. The Regional Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit Healthcare provision takes place across two main sites, Whiston Hospital and St Helens Hospital. The Trust boasts a position as one of the country’s top-performing NHS Trusts, having received a “Double Excellent” rating in the Healthcare Commission’s 2008 Annual Healthcheck.

On schedule and on budget

The new St Helens Hospital opened its doors in October 2008 and the Whiston Hospital element of this vast project is due to open in April 2010. Among its achievements to date the project team has delivered new buildings that will enable the Trust to provide excellent patient care in world-class surroundings. Most importantly, all work has been delivered on-schedule and within budget, while during the construction process the Trust did not cancel a single clinic or operation, nor lose any visitor car parking spaces. At the project’s heart has been a team with very clear targets. Our aim was to make up a large percentage of the project value through off-site construction, putting NG Bailey at the centre of one of the UK’s biggest and most exciting modular M&E installations. But why the focus on off-site construction as integral from the start?