Shard firm promises “world-class” hospital for Jersey

Wednesday 04 December 2019

An international company responsible for delivering the London Eye, the Shard and the 2012 Olympic stadium has promised to bring a “world-class” hospital to fruition in Jersey after signing a £750k contract with the government.

Construction and consultancy firm Mace will be responsible for overseeing and running the project, including working with designers, architects and contractors.

It will be paid £742,085 for the work. 

Officials that the company should help ensure the ‘Our Hospital’ project – whose design, scale and location are yet to be determined – runs as smoothly as possible, adding that it has a strong track record in delivering healthcare developments. 

Pictured: The new hospital's size and location won't be decided until 2020, according to an update given by the Chief Minister in September.

Among those was the UK’s first proton beam therapy centre at the Christie Hospital in Manchester.

It also helped the University of Oxford to expand its biomedical research facilities and assisted with improvements to University College London Hospital. 

In 2018, it worked was drafted in to help get the Royal Liverpool Hospital scheme back on track after it was delayed by Carillion’s collapse.

Assistant Minister for Health and Community Services, Deputy Hugh Raymond, said “strategic management” of the hospital was crucial given the scale of the programme. 

Pictured: Assistant Minister for Health, Deputy Hugh Raymond, welcomed the appointment.

“…We are therefore delighted with the appointment of Mace. They have the capacity, capability and the international experience to run this project, while also the desire to work with local partners to deliver this project,” he commented. 

“To have a PMO on board with Mace’s experience and track record is a significant step forward for the Our Hospital Project. The PMO will be the engine room of the operation, driving it forward, and bringing together all of the various components needed to deliver Jersey’s new hospital.” 

Colin Harvey, Director for the North at Mace, added that the firm was “delighted” to have been appointed to work on “such an important project”. 

“We will use our international and healthcare PMO experience to manage the successful delivery of the project and create a world-class new hospital for Jersey.”

Pictured: The shelved 'Future Hospital' scheme.

News of the appointment comes after the government revealed its draft Jersey Care Model, which included proposals for an urgent treatment centre and more day surgeries to lighten the hospital's load and transform healthcare on the island.

The release of the model was the first major step forward for the second iteration of the new hospital project after the first attempt was scrapped with a write-off cost of around £27million. £7million was then budgeted for getting the project started again.

The next key milestone will be in September 2020 when the location of the new build is decided, but a fresh planning application won't be submitted until 2021.