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Costs on the stalled Royal Liverpool Hospital are mounting because of remedial works required to correct faults created by Carillion, with a recent survey unearthing failures in the cladding systems on the building.
The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust revealed that it had engaged Arup to identify the work required to finish the £335m scheme, which had been nearing completion before Carillion’s collapse.
The Trust said that despite assurances from Carillion that all of the cladding had been specified and installed to meet the required standards of fire safety (HTM05-02 ‘Firecode – fire safety in the design of healthcare premises’), Arup’s review had found that this was not the case with some parts of different cladding systems on the building.
It said that despite the issues, the funders of the project, including the European Investment Bank and Legal & General pensions, have been keen to continue supporting the project.
However, if they are no longer able to support the project, the Trust warned that government support similar to that provided at the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust would be required.
It also revealed that it has the option to terminate the contract if the new hospital hasn’t been handed over by the ‘long stop date’ which is 30 September and the board will be discussing their options later this month.
In a statement, the Trust said: “If the contract was terminated, we would need to engage the lenders in complex discussions regarding the status of their investment. These discussions would need to be resolved before a new contract to complete the hospital could be agreed.
“In the meantime, discussions between the government and the funders to agree a way forward are continuing and we expect these discussions to generate an agreed outcome very soon.
“While we remain in the current Royal, we continue to carry out both emergency and planned maintenance (across all our hospitals) to ensure that patients are treated in a safe environment. So whilst the current building does not provide the high quality environment we all want for our patients, we do invest in and work extremely hard to ensure that it is safe.”
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On such a major government contract & over a year since the Grenfell debacle, only after Carillion went bust, has it now been found that the cladding is defective & does not conform to the specification! Whatever was the Architect & Clerks of Works doing to allow non conforming cladding panels to be fitted? No wonder much of UK construction is now substandard, lacking quality control, everyone involved absolving responsibility! This is a disgrace & the Carillion Enquiry needs to look at those responsible & they should all be held to account.