Preparatory work on Cromer redevelopment underway
Work is well underway on the preparations for the Cromer Hospital redevelopment following the appointment of Balfour Beatty to the £12 million hospital project.
The development will replace the original Mill Road hospital which first opened in 1932. It will be for day case operations under local anaesthetic, out-patients, diagnostics, dialysis, and minor injuries care and will be completed in 2010.
As a result of the tendering process Balfour Beatty plc is carrying out the construction work. The construction team is based in Swaffham and includes the Norfolk architects Purcell Miller Tritton.
The Trust’s design brief is for a modern flexible hospital, environmentally-friendly and sustainable, sympathetic to local surroundings and using local materials where possible. The new hospital is being funded by the £12 million Sagle Bernstein legacy.
Since October last year the Balfour Beatty team has been working on the technical needs of the hospital building and developing design options in consultation with staff and patient representatives. Those options are being worked on currently and may include a mixture of new build and refurbishment of existing parts of Cromer Hospital.
The next steps are finalising those design options, developing a planning application during Spring 2008. Contractors are also currently conducting detailed ground and building surveys. Once consultation regarding a planning application has been completed, building work could start in Autumn this year, with construction completed in 2010.
Once the new hospital’s design brief has been fixed, the hospital trust and the builders will agree a guaranteed maximum price for the project. This will help ensure value for money for the public, and focus the contractors on delivering the project on budget.
The Bernstein legacy
In 2001, the trustees of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust received an £11.4 million legacy left to Cromer Hospital by the late Sagle Bernstein.
Mrs Bernstein was a local resident and her sister had been a patient at Cromer Hospital. So far £2.4 million has already been spent on equipment since 2001 and the current value of the legacy, which is held on deposit and not invested in the stock market, currently stands at £12.7 million.
The builders
The Balfour Beatty team working on the new hospital is based in Swaffham and the company has an excellent track record in the public and private sector including affordable housing, education, health, defence, airports, commercial and interiors, culture and heritage.