COVID and delivery issues hit work on Fife’s £33m elective orthopaedic centre

NHS Fife has heard that the planned completion date on site has now been moved from September 23, 2022, to October 10, 2022, after the late delivery of concrete earlier this year.

Steel contractors also either became infected with COVID or had to self-isolate, which has also affected timescales, while workers have encountered “unchartered services” in the ground which had to be negotiated around.

Hopes remain high that the state-of-the-art building, which will accommodate three new theatres together with a 34-bed in-patient ward and outpatient accommodation, will be operational by January 2023 - although it remains to be seen how the impact of Brexit and restrictions sparked by the emergence of the Omicron COVID variant will pan out over the remainder of the project.

Ben Johnston, head of capital planning and project director, commented: “The full business case was approved by the NHS Fife board in November 2020 and then by the Scottish Capital Investment Group on March 11, 2021, allowing the construction phase of the project to commence.

“Following the completion of car park enabling works, the project started on site on March 1, 2021, and is currently due for completion in October 2022.

“Following a client transfer and commissioning period it is anticipated that the facility will be operational in December 2022/January 2023.”

Mr Johnson also revealed that there is “contractual issue” to resolve in respect to COVID-19 and risk ownership, with the contract containing a COVID-19 clause which seems to place the risk of material price increases and late delivery of materials with the primary supply chain provider (PSCP) - in this case Graham Construction.

They are contesting that position and the wording of the clause, but ithe issue in itself should not affect project timescales.

“From our perspective the matter will either not be a compensation event in which case the PSCP will assume the risk, or it will be a compensation event in which case financial relief will be secured through the Scottish Government,” Mr Johnson noted.

Board members also heard that the Fife Health Charity had approved a request for £312,000 towards supporting a number of patient and staff enhancements on the site.

“This will help to realise the vision of creating a true centre of orthopaedic excellence benefiting patients and staff,” Mr Johnsn concluded.

Measures incorporated to mitigate delays to date include improvements to the site welfare environment to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection, access to a larger site area allowing materials to be procured in advance, and the provision of a concrete hopper reducing the risk in concrete shortages.

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.

https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/nord/dm/FFP/V