Construction Manager reports the government has confirmed that it will provide direct funding to restart construction on the stalled Midland Metropolitan hospital in Smethwick following the collapse of Carillion.
This follows the news earlier this month that the hospital trust expects work on the project to resume this autumn.
The Department for Health and Social Care said the hospital would open in 2022, following an agreement between the government and the local NHS trust on how to finish construction work.
Under the agreement, the government will provide funding for the remainder of the building work.
Carillion began building Midland Metropolitan Hospital, part of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, under a private finance programme but work came to a halt earlier this year when only two-thirds complete. It was originally due to open in October this year.
The Trust had already decided in May to end the existing private finance contract with Carillion’s PFI joint venture – the Hospital Company (Sandwell) – and on 20 July it took back control of the site.
Formal procurement to restart the project is expected to start by November this year. An invitation to tender for an early and enabling works contract to restart key work was issued earlier this month.
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust chief executive, Toby Lewis, said: "This is absolutely fantastic news. After a huge amount of work by teams across Whitehall and the Trust, and with the voices of local residents, clinicians, and stakeholders having been clearly heard, we are delighted that we now have a definitive, publicly financed plan.
"We will continue to engage with the construction market over coming weeks and build towards a formal procurement by November this year."
