First of ‘40 new hospitals’ delayed amid EU workforce disruption

The new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in west Birmingham was previously set to open in 2018, but was severely delayed by the collapse of the previous contractors, Carillion.

After bringing in new contractors, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust planned to open the facility by 2022, but has now admitted this timescale will not be met.

A report to the trust board on 7 October said: “It is becoming increasingly unlikely that we will be able to open the hospital in 2022…

“The impact on the construction industry on the available workforce and required materials are well known and are a live risk which is being actively managed.

“Additionally, we have responded to the new fire regulations with a requirement to replace parts of the external façade that has had an impact on the programme.”

The plan, which has been more than a decade in the making, will see the trust relocate acute services from its two current hospital sites, Birmingham City Hospital and General Hospital.

Chief executive Richard Beeken said in a statement: “The new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital construction programme has progressed well during the pandemic. However, there have inevitably been some significant impacts over the past 18 months relating to supplies, workforce availability and replacement of part of the external façade due to changed fire regulations.”

He said the trust will aim to announce a new planned opening date by the end of the year.

The project is listed as the first within the government’s flagship programme for 40 new hospitals, although there has been criticism of its inclusion on the list, given it was already under construction at the time of announcement.

Noble Francis, economics director of the Commercial Products Association, said in terms of the cost and availability of construction products, there have been “extended lead times” and “sharp cost rises” since autumn last year.

He also said issues around products supply have been exacerbated by the HGV driver shortage, and added: “In terms of skills shortages, in some hotspots of construction activity, there have been shortages of skilled (and even unskilled) construction labour over the past year.

“This has been exacerbated by the fall in EU labour in construction in recent years. The UK, and particularly London, has a high reliance on EU construction workers.”

A spokeswoman from Balfour Beatty said: “We continue to work closely with the trust to ensure the successful completion of this landmark project.”

In a report published in January 2020, the National Audit Office estimated the original four-year delay, up to 2022, would mean the costs of the build could increase from £688m to almost £1bn. It is unclear what the costs of the new delay will be.