黑洞社区

The NHS trust behind a Birmingham hospital left half-built after Carillion鈥檚 collapse has admitted it might not be able to appoint a contractor in July as planned.

Balfour Beatty has been finishing early works for the Midland Metropolitan Hospital since October, with Balfour and other contractors including Laing O鈥橰ourke and Sir Robert McAlpine eyeing up the 拢400m main construction contract in a competition being run by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust.

But a bureaucratic overhaul is now threatening to derail the construction timetable and once again leave the site without builders 鈥� more than 16 months after Carillion crashed into liquidation while on the job.

A planned change to clinical commissioning boundaries 鈥� which govern where local GPs refer patients to 鈥� could see West Birmingham split up from neighbouring Sandwell, the borough where the hospital in Smethwick is being built.

Toby Lewis, the trust鈥檚 chief executive, said the proposal is 鈥渁 red-rated risk to the coherence of the Midland Metropolitan Hospital business case鈥�.

An outline business case for the hospital was rubber-stamped by the treasury last autumn after contractors refused to take the job on similar terms to Carillion.

But the case contained conditions about its future use by several local health providers.

In a report to board members at the trust, Lewis wrote: 鈥淭he timing of this debate [about commissioning boundaries] is problematic, with the Midland Met final business case due back for approval at the May board [meeting], which is the latest possible date on which the [current] build programme can be maintained.鈥�

The changes to commissioning boundaries could alter the sorts of services the hospital is able to provide.

Lewis said he would write to local GP groups to share his 鈥済rave concerns鈥� and convey 鈥渢he risks created by the continued uncertainty鈥�.

He added: 鈥淭he position is clearly a very disappointing one, given the ostensive commitment of partners to the delayed completion of the site.鈥�

Any contract provisionally agreed between the NHS trust and a building firm would still have to be agreed by government.

Lewis told 黑洞社区: 鈥淟ast winter, the outline business case for Midland Met was approved by government. Finishing the process of choosing a contractor requires approval of a preferred bidder and then permission to sign a contract. 

He added: 鈥淓ach requires approval by the trust鈥檚 board, and through [the treasury and health department].  This is due to happen later in June and in early July.

鈥淲e are committed to Midland Met opening in 2022. We believe we had the conditions in place to do so, and hope that we retain partners鈥� support to move forward at pace.鈥�