‘The ambition is that this project will transform the quality of healthcare for the people of Cheshire and across the Northwest of England.’
Key aims of the programme include harnessing modern methods of construction, delivering new net zero carbon infrastructure and responding to future healthcare demand and capacity modelling.
The five RAAC hospitals set for rebuilding are Airedale in West Yorkshire, Queen Elizabeth King’s Lynn in Norfolk, Hinchingbrooke in Cambridgeshire, Mid Cheshire Leighton (pictured) in Cheshire and Frimley Park in Surrey.
The programme was reconfirmed in May 2023 and expanded to include five RAAC hospitals meaning several sites in the original programme will now be delivered after 2030.
The search for a Leighton Hospital design team comes two months after NHS England announced it was seeking to recruit a programme delivery partner for the government’s £20 billion ‘New Hospital Programme’.
The New Hospital Programme was first announced in 2020 and involves the delivery of 40 new hospitals – defined as with a major new clinical building, a new wing, or a refurbishment altering ‘all but the building frame or main structure.’
The new hospitals will be expected to integrate with surrounding with regions and systems, support evolving clinical and operational models and enhance local community provisions.
Competition details
The project, planned to complete in 2030, will create a new campus for the hospital which currently features 556 beds. Leighton Hospital is one of five RAAC crisis-effected sites to be included within the government’s New Hospital Programme which aims to create at least 40 new hospitals by 2030.
The winning architect-led team will carry out RIBA Stages 2-to-3 of the project to rebuild the 1970s hospital which features potentially dangerous Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concreate (RAAC) throughout around 80 per cent of its suburban campus.
Located on the north west fringes of Crewe – Leighton Hospital was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in May 1972. The latest project will focus on the ‘hospital 2.0’ concept intended to reduce costs and boost efficiency by adopting ‘optimised, standardised and repeatable solutions for scheme development, design, construction, and operation.’
‘The vision for the project is to design and build a new state of the art hospital that will play a vital role at the heart of the community, placing digital innovation at the forefront of health services designed to tackle inequalities and meet the needs of a growing and ageing population.
According to the brief: ‘MCHFT is in the initial stages of a new project to construct a new hospital, which will replace the existing Leighton Hospital which is affected by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concreate (RAAC) throughout circa 80 per cent of its buildings.
Project title Architect Lead Design Team for the New Development of Leighton Hospital Campus
Client Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Contract value £341 million
First round deadline 5pm, 16 February 2024
Restrictions Tbc
More information https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001666-2024