Interest in Alder Hey competition grows
Over seventy people have so far registered to attend the Bidder Open Day to hear more about the plan to create a new Children's Health Park at Alder Hey hospital.
Richard Glenn, project director, said: "Since details were published in OJEU there has been tremendous interest in the Alder Hey Children's Health Park Project. A number of major internationally known companies are keen to join with us to delivering what will be a stunning health facility to show the world the NHS at its very best."
Balfour Beatty, Bovis Lend Lease, Carillion, Laing and Taylor Woodrow have all expressed an interest in the project.
Expressions of interest must be submitted in the form of a completed pre-qualification questionnaire by 12pm on Tuesday 2 March 2010.
The brief for the £175m building and 30-year management contract published in the Official Journal of the European Union describes a world-class inpatient and acute treatment children's hospital on a new greenfield site adjacent to the current hospital.
The site forms part of Springfield Park, owned by Liverpool City Council. The council has already given outline planning permission for the children's health park, centred around a 450,000 sq ft hospital and 1,200-space car park.
Once the work is finished most of the existing buildings, which are between 75 and 100 years old, will be demolished and the site used to create new parkland.
The project, costing in total around £288m, has now moved into a key stage with the search starting for a partner to work with Alder Hey's trust board on the project.
The trust's decision to take the project to market follows an examination of the Health Park scheme by Monitor, the regulatory body for NHS Foundation Trusts.
Monitor's decision, announced on 19 October last year, paved the way for the scheme to progress to the next stage, taking it to market.
Liverpool-born Glenn is responsible for the strategic delivery of the project on time, within budget and to the required specification. He is also the main link with key partners and bodies such as the Department of Health, the Strategic Health Authority, Liverpool Primary Care Trust and Monitor, the regulatory body for Foundation Trusts.
Glenn is also the hospital's link with the health community, ensuring appropriate stakeholder involvement in the development of the design process and preparation of key project decisions and will lead negotiations with bidders.
He has led on the planning, design, construction management and commissioning of hospitals in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. In a career spanning over 30 years he has also advised on planning and design issues to hospitals in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and the United States.
Alder Hey, in the West Derby area of Liverpool, is one of the largest specialist children's hospitals in Europe covering a total catchment population of 7.6m and delivering over 244,000 episodes of care a year. The hospital is designated a University of Child Health Institute, and one of only two trust's in the North West to be a formal provider of children's specialised services, with 30 specialities in 50 departments, according to the NHS.
The trust's vision for a Children's Health Park Project will be delivered though two stages. However, contractors will be required to demonstrate through their design proposals that the trust can deliver the components of its stage 2 proposals following the completion of stage 1.
The delivery of stage 2 will be procured though a separate contact. Contractors tendering for the scope of works outlined within the Official Journal of the European Union notice will not be restricted from tendering for the trust's stage 2 works following the publication of an OJEU notice.
It is envisaged construction works will commence in spring 2012. The trust has undertaken a value for money assessment which has demonstrated that at present a PFI provides a value for money option to deliver the trust's requirements.
The trust expects to use the Government's Private Finance Initiative route for the new hospital and running a funding competition following the appointment of a preferred bidder. It envisages entering into a 30-year services contract with the successful contractor in relation to the new hospital and also, subject to discussion, a new car park development.
- The Bidder Open Day for the Children's Health Park project will be held on Thursday 11 February 2010. Potential bidders wishing to attend the event need to register by emailing Chris McCall at childrenshealthparkproject@alderhey.nhs.uk
