The mental health facility, built through a PFI scheme just over a decade ago, has faced persistent issues with its roof, plumbing, and fire safety since opening in 2011.Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust, which successfully fought to terminate its PFI contract, has now appointed Geoffrey Robinson on a £16m deal to deliver remedial works to blocks 1 and 9. Reports Contract Journal
If extended, the programme could expand into a £95m scheme covering an additional 11 blocks.
Earlier works to repair blocks 5 and 10 were carried out by Interserve, now Tilbury Douglas, back in 2019.
The original £75m PFI arrangement was procured by Three Valleys Healthcare, with Laing O’Rourke as main contractor and Carillion lined up to provide facilities management. But problems emerged almost immediately, with condensation causing timber roof structures to deteriorate in 2011 and major fire safety defects discovered in 2018.
The troubled project has since been the subject of years of legal wrangling. The Trust initially pursued more than £125m from the PFI consortium, which in turn sought damages from Laing O’Rourke.
In 2021, O’Rourke agreed to pay £18m in compensation and committed a further £5m towards repairing the failing timber roofs.