Northumberland Conservatives back calls for inquiry into troubled Berwick hospital build
The Conservatives group in Northumberland is supporting calls for an inquiry into the construction of the new Berwick Community Hospital.
After some initial delays, as late as 2023 there had been hope the hospital would open this year.
However, there has been a further delay due to original contractors Merit collapsing into administration. Gateshead-based firm Robertson Construction are now on site, but work is not expected to restart in full until the new year.
Bosses from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust faced questions from Northumberland County Council’s Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee earlier this month.
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.
“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.”
Northumberland Conservatives say an inquiry should look at the procurement and oversight of the hospital project, how problems with the original construction were allowed to develop, whether they could have been identified earlier and what the final additional bill to the public purse will be.
Bamburgh county councillor and Northumberland Conservatives chairman Guy Renner-Thompson said: “People across north Northumberland have been incredibly patient, but this has gone on for far too long.
“This isn’t just Berwick’s hospital, it serves a huge rural area – including the communities I represent.
“The hospital and leisure centre were originally meant to be delivered together. When the NHS pulled out of that joint scheme, the Conservative-run county council kept its commitment, got on with the job and delivered the new leisure centre. It has been open since 2022 and has been a fantastic success.
“Yet four years later we are still waiting for the hospital and are now being told parts of a brand-new building need to be stripped out before it has even opened.
“The priority must be getting it finished safely, but taxpayers and residents deserve answers. We support a proper inquiry into what went wrong, what the additional cost will be and who was responsible.”
“People in Berwick and across north Northumberland deserve the hospital they were promised, and they deserve a full explanation of what happened.”