18th Mar 2005 07:00
Serco joint venture appointed preferred bidder for Leicester University Hospitals Pathway PFI Serco Group plc's ("Serco") joint venture with Equion Ltd, the accommodationdivision of John Laing plc, has today been named as preferred bidder for amajor programme to improve health services in Leicester.The Pathway project, commissioned by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHSTrust, involves extensively refurbishing, modernising and supporting threehospitals.Patients will benefit from modern hospitals providing shorter waiting times,increased privacy, new technology to support clinical care and more effectivecommunity care. Employees will benefit from better working facilities andcloser working relationships between medical teams.The joint venture will be responsible for designing, constructing, maintainingand supporting the three hospital sites. The joint venture has appointed LaingO'Rourke as design and construction contractor and Serco as the supportservices provider.Serco already provides facilities management services to one of the hospitals -Leicester Royal Infirmary - and this contract continues until financial closeis reached on the PFI which is expected in 2006, after which the FM contractwill expand to cover all three sites.It is anticipated construction will start in 2006 and Serco will support thenew facilities as they come on stream and manage the transition process. Whenthe five-year development phase is finished, Serco will provide supportservices to the Trust for a further 30 years. In total, the operating contractis valued at around ‚£1.2bn to Serco over the 35 years.In addition to its work at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Serco provides support tothe NHS through its health consulting business and through services provided toWishaw Hospital in Lanarkshire and Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital.Serco chief executive Christopher Hyman said: "We are delighted that the Trusthas selected us as preferred bidder for this very important contract. The awardreflects the quality of the services we already provide to Leicester RoyalInfirmary and our proven track record in change management. We look forward toworking with Equion to deliver this exciting project for the people ofLeicester." - Ends - For further information please contact Serco Group plc: T +44 (0) 1256 745 900Dominic Cheetham, Corporate Communications DirectorRichard Hollins, Head of Investor RelationsNotes to editorsThe project covers three major hospitals within Leicester City: Leicester RoyalInfirmary; Leicester General Hospital; and Glenfield Hospital.The main elements of the plan include developing a new Women's and PerinatalUnit by merging the two maternity units onto the Glenfield Hospital site,refurbishing the majority of the service facilities at the Leicester RoyalInfirmary, developing state-of-the-art planned care and rehabilitationfacilities at the Leicester General Hospital and developing a newmulti-professional education and training centre in partnership with theUniversity of Leicester School of Medicine and the De Montfort School ofNursing & Midwifery.Serco is one of the world's leading service companies operating on aninternational basis in a diverse range of sectors, including health, education,science, local government, transport, justice and defence. More information canbe found at www.serco.comEquion, part of John Laing plc, is a specialist provider of facilities in thePFI and PPP markets with a long-term perspective and approach. The companymanages and delivers projects from planning and funding through to design,construction and operation. It is actively involved in the management of a widerange of health, education, police, defence and special purpose governmentfacilities. www.equion.ltd.ukLaing O'Rourke is one of the UK's leading constructors, a global business witha turnover approaching ‚£2bn and over 16,000 employees worldwide.ENDSERCO GROUP PLCRelated Shares:
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