The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, the flagship of the £500 million Central Manchester Hospitals (PFI) investment, has been handed over, on time and on budget.
The hospital will go into service this month, providing over 370 beds, 90 single bedrooms, and on-site accommodation for young patients’ families and carers. To celebrate the handover PFI investor Catalyst Lend Lease and construction partner Bovis Lend Lease presented Peter Mount, chairman of the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with a giant “key of the door”. Gary Taylor, Catalyst Lend Lease COO, praised the effort and energy that had gone into the three-year construction programme: “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.” When complete, the entire PFI development will cover over 265,000 m2, 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. Project architects are Anshen and Allen.
