NHS bosses confirm new Berwick hospital construction completion likely to be delayed until 2028

However, contrary to local rumours, the work that has been carried out to date will not need to be bulldozed and restarted.

The lengthy delay comes after original contractors Merit collapsed into administration. Gateshead-based firm Robertson Construction are now on site, but work is not expected to restart in full until the new year.

As late as 2023, there had been hope the hospital would open this year. Robertson has been working to “identify what needs to be done to help develop the next phase in our programme of work”.

This programme is expected to be completed by the end of the month. On Tuesday, bosses from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust faced questions from Northumberland County Council’s Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.

Speaking at the meeting, the trust’s executive director of estates and facilities, Damon Kent, said: “The external, as you see of the build, remains in place but internally we do need to strip out some of the building services that have been installed.

“This is quite a complex set of issues in the background. Robertson has taken over the site and its team have a solid track record of delivering a number of projects, particularly in healthcare.

“They also have experience in taking on distressed projects. There’s remedial work that will need to be done – we have one chance to rebuild this hospital and we have got to do it properly.

“We’re currently at a point that we’re hopeful that by the end of September, we will have a new programme from Robertson. Completion is likely to be spring or summer 2028.”

Executive director of nursing Marion Dickson added: “It’s very disappointing. Staff are as frustrated and as disappointed as we are.

“We’re here to give you some assurances that we’re trying to work through all the issues diligently.

“Please be assured that everyone is working very hard. We’re all committed to making sure the hospital is built and open as soon as we can.

“We acknowledge the frustration and disappointment everybody has. We’re sharing updates when we can and we have confidence in Robertson.”

Former directors and investors in Merit have since set up Merit Industrialised Construction, which purchased assets of the former entity on cut price deals from the administrators.

The committee’s chairman, Berwick East councillor Georgina Hill, said there needed to be some “accountability” around the decision to appoint the company as contractors.

She added: “Who has been doing the quality checking? Do you accept there was a failure in quality checking?”

Mr Kent replied: “The trust employs a team of quality control inspectors who alerted us to issues which led to where we are now. I think the process worked.

“There’s a legal process around this. I don’t want to compromise that – it’s quite significant.

“There are some companies who go into insolvency through no fault of their own and mange it responsibly. Here we have some evidence of a very different set of behaviours.

“I think we have been let down significantly by the behaviours of that contractor. The full lessons learnt will come through, but we need to consult the current legal process.”