Treasury approval secured for Women and Children’s Hospital

In a joint letter to our MPs, local councillors and partner organisations in Cornwall and Scilly, Steve Williamson, CEO at RCHT and Tim Chell, Regional Director of BAM have welcomed HM Treasury approval of the Outline Business Case (OBC) for the Women and Children’s Hospital Programme: 

On 25th September 2023, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) received formal confirmation from the Chairs of the Joint Investment Committee (HM Treasury and the Department of Health and Social Care – DHSC) that the OBC  for the Women and Children’s Hospital has been approved.

RCHT and BAM, the scheme’s Principal Supply Chain Partner (PSCP), are delighted and together we welcome the achievement of this significant milestone on the Programme. For the last three years, we have worked together tirelessly to progress towards the Full Business Case (FBC) stage which will eventually see the brand-new Women and Children’s Hospital built for the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly by 2028. Although verbal approval for the OBC was received from the DHSC in February 2023, the Secretary of State for Health requested some further work to the OBC in May 2023.  

This most recent letter of approval from HMT Treasury means that RCHT has been recognised as being ready to continue working with BAM towards delivering the detailed FBC for the new hospital, which we aim to have ready for ministerial sign off in the summer of 2025. Full planning permission for the scheme will be submitted in January 2025.

The enabling works project, which have already commenced, include: 

• The creation of 170 new car parking spaces on  the Royal Cornwall Hospital site, with construction work being undertaken from January to May 2024. This scheme is to re-provide the spaces lost at the front of the Trelawny Main Entrance to accommodate the new Pathology Building and will  include  the re-provision and reallocation of accessible parking spaces
• Critical Electrical Infrastructure works, including the upgrade of the High Voltage (HV) electrical system around the Royal Cornwall Hospital site, and the connection of an additional electrical supply to the site by the National Grid
• The relocation of one of the two Vacuum Insulated Evaporators (VIEs) supplying medical oxygen to the Royal Cornwall Hospital, as well as some changes to the road network around the site
• Construction of the new Pathology Building, which will commence  from April 2024, and
• Further relocations for Pharmacy Offices and Lloyds Pharmacy; the Supplies and “Goods In” receipting area; and the Cardiac Department from the Link Corridor to Trelawny Wing.

The FBC Programme Delivery launch workshop will take place in early November 2023, setting out the objectives and delivery plan for the next phase of the overall Programme. This internal launch meeting, will include key members of the RCHT Programme Delivery team working together with BAM and colleagues from the New Hospital Programme (NHP).

We hope you will join us in celebrating the achievement of our teams in securing the OBC stage approval from the Government, and we look forward to providing further progress updates for the Women and Children’s Hospital Programme as we move through the next stages together.