Beatty leads hospital bid

Published on Thursday 18 January 2007 12:05

ENGINEERING and construction giant Balfour Beatty has been selected preferred bidder for the £152 million contract to build the new Fife General Hospital.

The project, being steered by NHS Fife and carried out by Balfour's specialist subsidiary Consort, is another addition to Balfour's healthcare portfolio in public/private partnership ventures, which also includes Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary.

Under a 30-year concession, Consort will construct a new wing to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, including 11 operating theatres, an emergency care centre, 13 wards, and a maternity unit. Balfour chief executive Ian Tyler said Fife was his firm's ninth major hospital scheme under the government's Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme

"We believe that our design, developed in full consultation with NHS Fife's project team and healthcare professionals, will create a first-class, efficient facility with an improved environment for patients and staff that will also make a high-quality addition to the local built environment," he said.

The project is expected to be completed by 2010.