Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services Group, has announced today that Consort, its specialist PPP healthcare company, has reached financial close on the £170m Fife General Hospital and Maternity Services PPP project for NHS Fife.

Under the 30-year concession, Consort will provide a new wing to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, including 11 operating theatres, an emergency care centre, 13 wards, surgical and medical assessment units, a maternity unit, a women and children's unit, day intervention, critical care, coronary care and renal and dialysis facilities.

The chosen location of the new wing will minimise disruption to the existing hospital and facilitate the transfer of patients to the new facilities when they are completed.

Commenting on the appointment, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler, said: "This project will transform healthcare delivery in Fife. We believe that our design, developed in full consultation with NHS Fife's project team and healthcare professionals, will create a first-class, efficient facility with an improved environment for patients and staff that will also make a high-quality addition to the local built environment. We look forward to delivering the expertise gained in working on a wide range of other healthcare PPP projects to the benefit of the people of Fife."


NHS Fife Chairman, Professor Jim McGoldrick said: "We are delighted to make this announcement today and look forward to taking this forward with Consort who are as committed as we are to delivering modern, high-quality services.

"This is a key step in the multi-stranded strategy for the future provision of health services in Fife. We have been working with local people since 2002 to develop and bring to reality our vision for future services. That vision will become a reality for Victoria Hospital in 2011."

The construction of the new wing at Victoria Hospital, currently the largest construction programme in Fife, is part of the long-term strategy for the co-location of specialist inpatient and emergency services on one site. Future developments outside the PPP project include the re-configuration of services at Victoria and Queen Margaret Hospitals, once the new wing has been completed.

The new wing, which has been under construction since September 2008 under an Advanced Works Agreement, will be carried out by Balfour Beatty Construction and Haden Young. The project is due for completion in 2011.

The maintenance and facilities management for the scheme will be provided by Balfour Beatty WorkPlace.

Balfour Beatty Capital, the Group's infrastructure investment arm, will invest £9.5 million of equity in the project, as will HSBC, its financial partner.

The total amount of debt funding is £170m.

(GK/JM)