Lessons from Police HQ could help new hospital

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Lessons learnt from the building of the new Police HQ will help in the construction of the new hospital, according to States property chief, Ray Foster.

“The principles are the same. It’s about communication and engagement,” said Mr Foster during a scrutiny panel hearing yesterday, which reviewed the expenditure on the new Police HQ, that opened in March this year.

Mr Foster said that although they would, “...never build another one of these” [Police HQ], lessons could be carried forward into new builds like the new hospital project.

He said there was, “...no point building something that doesn’t maximise the return for public money,” and added that “...getting that value judgement right is the key to all of this.”

“We need to ensure that we’ve got the right product in the end. And we need to ensure that along the way we keep checking that,” he said and added that working “collaboratively” and getting the “right contractor” would be the key to doing just that. 

Mike Bowron, Chief of Police, used the meeting to voice his approval for the new build and agreed that skills learnt during the build of the new Police Headquarters could be applied to the new hospital project.

He said: “...processes are transferrable,” and added that teamwork and consulting staff “from porters to top surgeons” would help in the success of the new hospital project. 

When asked during the panel by Constable Simon Crowcroft if he was happy with the final product, Officer Bowron was full of praise for the new build.

He remembered, “...walking in on day one and looking at it and thinking, ‘that’s my job done.’”

 “I couldn’t have asked for more. It’s perfect. Two weeks early, within budget, to spec…” 

The official final cost figure has not been released yet but it is expected to be within the £25million allocated to spend.

According to Mr Foster, the final figure can be expected by December 2017.

Responding to Constable Crowcroft’s budget questioning, Mr Foster said: “Is it on budget? We are very very close,” but he insisted that it would take three to six months to have the final figure.