|
|
 |
1 May 2009
Handover time for Britain’s biggest children’s hospital
The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital - set to bring new standards of paediatric care to north-west England - was handed over today, on time and on budget. It is Britain’s biggest children’s hospital and is the flagship of the £500 million Central Manchester Hospitals Private Finance Initiative (PFI) investment.
Following a period of commissioning, the hospital will go into service in June, providing over 370 beds, 90 single bedrooms and on-site accommodation for the young patients’ families and carers.
To celebrate the handover, the PFI investor, Catalyst Lend Lease, and its construction partner, Bovis Lend Lease, presented Peter Mount, the chairman of the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with a giant “key of the door”.
Gary Taylor, chief operating officer of Catalyst Lend Lease, praised the effort and energy that has gone into the three-year construction programme, saying: “From the time this project was first conceived it has set high expectations. Everyone on the project team has done a wonderful job, creating a world-class hospital that will add a new dimension to children’s healthcare in north-west England.”
Trust chairman, Peter Mount, said: “Today is a great day for the future of children’s services in Manchester. This is a truly remarkable environment which has state-of-the-art facilities, yet captures the spirit of what has made our two existing children’s hospitals so valued.”
Graham Hiley, Bovis Lend Lease’s project director, added: “Delivering the largest children’s hospital in the UK is something we can be very proud of. It has been a difficult logistics exercise requiring carefully planned moves and phasing of our work to ensure existing hospital premises remained fully operational at all times.”
When complete, the entire PFI development will cover a total area of over 265,000 square metres, with five new hospitals and over 1,100 beds. Vital support services such as clinical sciences, education, training and nursery facilities, together with 1,600 car park spaces and site landscaping, are also included in the six-year project. The project architects are Anshen and Allen.
Press enquiries: 30 April 2009
Andrew Bond
Catalyst Lend Lease 020 7182 9397 |  |  |
| Key moment: Right to left - Sir Tim Chessells, chairman, Catalyst Healthcare (Manchester) Ltd Peter Mount, chairman, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ,Graham Hiley, construction project director, Bovis Lend Lease
|
|  |
| Ready and waiting: Inside the new Manchester Children’s Hospital, which goes into service in June |
| |
media
|