Ensuring the provision of seamless patient care

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is the first new acute hospital to be built in Birmingham for nearly 70 years.  This innovative health facility, representing an investment of circa £550 million, will provide world-class health facilities and should significantly improve health outcomes for communities across the West Midlands.

The new hospital will replace the existing Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak Hospitals, cover 170,000sqm² and have over 1200 beds, 44% of which will be single-occupancy rooms.  It will provide oncology, trauma, cardiac, medical and surgical services.  The campus will also include three new mental health facilities developed in partnership with the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust.

EC Harris has been involved from the outset of this project and has played a vital role in keeping it to programme and on budget during the construction phase.  The firm has been involved in a number of aspects of this massive PFI scheme, working with all the relevant stakeholders - the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust; Consort Healthcare; and the lead contractor Balfour Beatty Construction.

Creating Solutions

Initially EC Harris worked with BDP on the design of the project which placed the patients’ needs at the heart of the process.  This involved intensive consultation with patients, visitors, staff and the trust’s clinical review groups.  The team developed a masterplan for the facility, creating a green, open hospital campus which would help optimise recovery times.

EC Harris provided healthcare planning advice throughout this process, from the initial stages of the PFI process to financial close.  Specifically this involved consultancy around the transition/migration plan – advising how best to consolidate regional and secondary services from two main sites onto a single site together with cancer services, mental health facilities and a university medical school

Since construction started on site, EC Harris consultants have been integral to the project’s progress, providing programme management and consultancy services across a number of aspects.  Highlights have included:

• Negotiating a large variation to incorporate retained estate in to the new building to reduce the reliance on old building stock.
• Project managing the move of Radiation Protection Services (RRPPS) from a 30 year old building in the middle of the construction site to a newly designed facility, with minimal disruption of services.  It was vital that this was completed on time to ensure the new transport hub could be created, thereby allowing the construction of the main facility to continue at pace. This was a procured using Procure21 and was delivered on schedule and below budget.
• Assisting in the client side of Practical Completion for the three mental health hospitals and managing aspects of the move which occurred ahead of schedule.

Adding Value

EC Harris consultants identified a potential significant risk to future patient-care around the effective transfer of furniture and equipment from the two hospitals into one.  The team therefore led a project to ensure all Trust-procured furniture and equipment across the sites would be effectively and efficiently moved into the new hospital building in the right place at the right time. 

This involved working in partnership with Trust employees to audit over 25,000 items of existing furniture and equipment over a period of four months to minimise the risk of cost and delay and ensure future treatment will continue seamlessly.

The audit naturally lead into vital benchmarking data for the Trust, allowing it to identify efficiencies in the procurement process – EC Harris is advising on aspects of these new guidelines, which should lead to significant savings for the Trust.

EC Harris continues to work for the client, providing expert health sector and PFI construction knowledge to resolve issues and maximise opportunities for the client team.  The firm’s input has contributed significantly to ensuring the programme is delivered as planned.

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