Interserve has completed the first phase of NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham, which will treat coronavirus patients, in just seven days.
The initial phase has capacity for 800 patients as of this weekend (11 March) and will eventually accommodate up to another 4,000 beds.
A total of 400 Interserve employees and contractors worked over 40,000 hours during the work, and 60 Gurkhas helped to finish the project.
The works involved the use of 67 miles of cable, 10 miles of copper piping, and vinyl covering 11.5 football pitches.
Interserve, working on behalf of the NHS and the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), said it delivered the works in line with the social distancing guidelines set out by the government.
Paul Gandy, managing director, Interserve Construction, said: “The NHS Nightingale Birmingham has been built at a remarkable pace and with huge discipline. Our 400 employees and contractors have worked over 40,000 hours since Saturday to build this hospital, employing great logistics and project management skills. The NHS Nightingale Birmingham shows what can be achieved when people come together across the construction sector to protect the NHS and save lives.
“As the principal contractor working with UHB, our key supply chain partners and the NEC, our people have been working on site 24 hours a day to create this lifesaving medical facility.”
Dr David Rosser, chief executive, UHB, said: “The extraordinary effort in creating the Nightingale Hospital Birmingham is a total team effort. Without this collective purpose we would not have been able to make the staggering preparations to deliver this facility.”
