Lancashire’s Harbour inpatient unit gets go-ahead
Construction of Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust's new £40m mental health inpatient unit in Blackpool, The Harbour, will start on site in early April.
Ryhurst, the trust's joint venture partner, will undertake the development management of the scheme, which will be built by IHP, a partnership between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine.
The Harbour will be built on land at the Wyndyke Farm site, just off the M55, and will open in spring 2015. The development will have a total of 154 beds including a psychiatric intensive care unit.
The development will be replacing the use of facilities at Parkwood, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, and at Lytham Hospital and Fleetwood Hospital.
Once operational, it will be the first NHS ProCure21+ project to be managed by a joint venture estates partnership.
Stephen Collinson, managing director of Ryhurst, said: "Reaching this milestone for The Harbour is the latest development in our partnership to support the trust's clinical strategy through better asset management.
"The project combines many years of planning and consultation to provide a first-class, modern design appropriate for a diverse range of mental health needs."
Alistair Rose, project director for Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This takes us one step closer to realising the trust's ambition to replace its existing mental health wards across Lancashire with purpose designed, modern and high-quality inpatient accommodation."
