Pair form joint venture on £20bn programme which will be built over next two decades
Mace and Turner & Townsend have been awarded a £600m job as lead consultants on the government’s New Hospital Programme.
The pair will form a joint venture to work with NHS England as programme delivery partner, replacing Mott MacDonald, which had held the role on an interim basis since 2021.
The programme, announced by Boris Johnson in 2020, originally aimed to complete 40 hospital schemes by 2030 but has been hit by a series of delays.
A strategic review in September last year confirmed the programme would prioritise the full rebuilds of seven hospitals containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), while at least 13 schemes have been delayed past 2035.
Many of the later schemes are expected to use a modern methods of construction approach called “Hospital 2.0” which will use standardised designs and components to reduce costs and construction time.
Mace and T&T will lead the delivery consortium, working together with an extensive national supply chain to guide the programme and safeguard its schedule and budgets.
The New Hospital Programme (NHP) said the role will be tasked with “creating a legacy with the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care for outstanding healthcare facility delivery long into the future”.
NHP chief programme officer Morag Stuart said the appointment “demonstrates the government’s commitment to delivering new hospitals and transforming the way that we deliver healthcare in England,” adding that the programme was “ready to deliver at speed and at scale”.
Mace group chief executive Jason Millett added: “The New Hospital Programme represents one of the most important social infrastructure opportunities of a generation, promising a legacy of transformative healthcare facilities for communities across the UK.”
Davendra Dabasia, chief executive of the firm’s consulting arm, added: “Blending the delivery partner model with an industrialised approach, Mace, its PDP partners and the diverse supply chain will bring an unparalleled depth and breadth of cross-sector capabilities to enable efficient, effective and safe delivery of this high-profile, high-importance programme.”
Turner & Townsend managing director for UK real estate Chris Sargent said the appointment builds on the firm’s longstanding relationship with the NHS.
He said: “Our collaborative approach with Mace and our national supply chain partners will ensure the delivery of state-of-the-art healthcare facilities that meet the needs of patients and clinicians across the UK. We are committed to leveraging our expertise to drive value, efficiency, and innovation in this once-in-a-generation programme.”
Under the current programme as set out by health secretary Wes Streeting last year, a total of 46 hospitals built or refurbished with projects delivered and funded in five-year “waves”, with £15bn allocated for each wave.
A total of 21 schemes have already been approved. Of these, 14 are either open to patients, in construction or have had their main build full business case approved, while a further seven will replace RAAC hospitals, which are deemed more urgent due to safety risks.
Of the 25 remaining, seven schemes are due to start construction in the upcoming wave of construction between this year and 2030.
A total of nine ”wave two” schemes will start between 2030 and 2035 and a further nine ”wave three” schemes between 2035 and 2039, with five of these not expected to start until 2037.
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