Serco joint venture appointed preferred bidder for Leicester University Hospitals Pathway PFI
Date : 18 March 2005
Serco Group plc's ("Serco") joint venture with Equion Ltd, the accommodation division of John Laing plc, has today been named as preferred bidder for a major programme to improve health services in Leicester.
The Pathway project, commissioned by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, involves extensively refurbishing, modernising and supporting three hospitals.
Patients will benefit from modern hospitals providing shorter waiting times, increased privacy, new technology to support clinical care and more effective community care. Employees will benefit from better working facilities and closer working relationships between medical teams.
The joint venture will be responsible for designing, constructing, maintaining and supporting the three hospital sites. The joint venture has appointed Laing O'Rourke as design and construction contractor and Serco as the support services provider.
Serco already provides facilities management services to one of the hospitals - Leicester Royal Infirmary - and this contract continues until financial close is reached on the PFI which is expected in 2006, after which the FM contract will expand to cover all three sites.
It is anticipated construction will start in 2006 and Serco will support the new facilities as they come on stream and manage the transition process. When the five-year development phase is finished, Serco will provide support services to the Trust for a further 30 years. In total, the operating contract is valued at around £1.2bn to Serco over the 35 years.
In addition to its work at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Serco provides support to the NHS through its health consulting business and through services provided to Wishaw Hospital in Lanarkshire and Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital.
Serco Chief Executive Christopher Hyman said: "We are delighted that the Trust has selected us as preferred bidder for this very important contract. The award reflects the quality of the services we already provide to Leicester Royal Infirmary and our proven track record in change management. We look forward to working with Equion to deliver this exciting project for the people of Leicester."
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