Completion Costs for Liverpool Hospital ‘Underestimated’

THE COST of completing the stalled Royal Liverpool hospital following Carillion’s collapse have been “underestimated”, according to the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust.

Originally due to cost £335 million, official documents released by the Trust reveal that the project will require additional capital funding to complete outstanding work.

The Trust is working with current contractors to the hospital, Laing O’Rourke and Mace, as well as external advisors to “review and firm up” on forecast costs to finish the hospital, although no figures have been released.

Completion Costs ‘Underestimated’

Warnings have also been given by Unite, the UK’s construction union, to contractors preparing to restart work on the project. They have been urged to ensure first class employment rights, in order to avoid further problems and delays on the project.

Unite Regional Officer, Colin Carr, said: “The entire history of this project is one of mismanagement and failure. It is essential that these mistakes are not repeated in finally completing the project.

“That is why it is essential that unions are given proper access to the workforce and other measures are implemented and policed to prevent exploitation of construction workers.

“If the workforce is not properly treated then it is almost inevitable that delays in completing this hospital which is desperately needed in Liverpool will further escalate.”

Work on the project, which was officially 85 per cent complete, has been stalled since January 2018 when the original contractor Carillion collapsed. The hospital will now be over three years late and patients and staff are having to continue to use the existing hospital which is no longer fit for purpose.

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