Midland Met: Public finance confirmed by government
August 16, 2018
Dear colleague,
Yesterday marked eight months since the collapse of Carillion, and the pause on completion of our new acute hospital, the Midland Metropolitan.
I am pleased to be able today to confirm that the government have accepted the Trust Board’s recommendation that the project should now be completed on a public finance basis.
This means that central monies will be provided to us to finish the construction. You will remember that the need to complete the hospital was not in doubt, but that it has taken some time to resolve how that is best done, as we have sought both a financing and a construction partnership.
Today’s announcement ends uncertainty over financing. We will shortly go to the market to find a contractor to complete the work. I would expect to issue that tender in early November. We should certainly complete the build ready to open in 2022. Meanwhile, in four weeks’ time we expect to confirm a contractor to undertake some remedial work on the site this winter and into next spring. The tender for this was issued ten days ago – and again is nationally funded. So Midland Met will become again a hive of activity, and indeed of local employment.
Next year we will determine whether we operate the maintenance of the building ourselves, or will bring in a commercial partner to do that. In all other respects today’s announcement gets us back onto the plan that we agreed in 2014 and expected to implement by 2018/19. The countdown clocks will soon be running again…
Because of the delay we will be bringing some equipment, intended for Midland Met, onto existing sites and into use early. This includes some IT equipment, and also some imaging kit under our managed equipment service. In addition, you will know from prior communications that we are working through now which acute services will relocate from Sandwell to City next year as we look to make sure we can sustain high quality emergency care until 2022. I published a video earlier this month seeking to make it clear that we have no plans to move from two A&Es to one before Midland Met, but in common with our successful reconfigurations of stroke, general surgery and cardiac care, among others, we may move a handful of adult acute services onto a single site basis before winter 2019. Funding for that is being nationally provided. Likewise we will see some additional and new investment to improve the estate and IT infrastructure at City during the period after 2019, given that we had expected by then to be off that site, having sold land to Homes England. These changes are all a chance to get in place new ways of working, which benefit our patients, before we move to the new hospital.
Most services we provide do not depend on a hospital, or indeed on a new hospital, but I know that Midland Met is hugely important part of our plans and our strategy. I hope you share the Board’s pleasure in finally finding a way through the complexities Carillion left us with. Today gives us clarity and we will now press ahead with the service changes next year, and with completing the Midland Met, which is a hospital which will help to define the NHS locally for decades to come.
Every best wish,
Toby
Chief Executive
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust