Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust has released a statement on the status of the new Royal Liverpool Hospital, which was due to be completed in June 2018 before its contractor Carillion went into compulsory liquidation in January. 

The Trust has stated that the funders for the project, the European Investment Bank and Legal and General pensions, remain committed and are prepared to invest significant additional funding to achieve completion. 

There has been added complexity in reaching an estimate of the costs to complete the new Royal, as a result of remedial work required to correct faults created by Carillion. Structural engineering firm, Arup, have been engaged over recent months to identify the work required to complete the scheme. Arup have identified the requirement for further improvements to the structure and to cladding.

Despite these issues, the funders have been keen to find a way to continue to support the project.

In line with the project agreement, the Trust can terminate the PFI contract if the new hospital hasn’t been handed over by the ‘long stop date’ of 30 September. The Board of the Trust will be discussing this option later this month. In the meantime, discussions between the government and the funders to agree a way forward are continuing. The Trust expects these discussions to generate an agreed outcome very soon.