Summary
Framework/Partnership // Strategic Partnership
Project Type // Strategic
At the end of September 2020, the Trust submitted a compelling case for a new hospital as part of the NHS’s response to the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Disappointingly, QEH was not on the list of 40 hospitals included in the £3.7billion building package announced on 2 October 2020.
There will be funding to build a further 8 new hospitals by 2030. QEH is doing all it can to position the Trust to be one of these further 8 hospitals.
The deadline for the Expressions of Interest submissions was 9 September 2021. exi supported the Trust with strategic and technical advisory services to successfully submit two Expressions of Interest on the advice of regional and national teams, one for a full new hospital on-site and a second for a multi-phase redevelopment on-site, after which a long-list process will follow (Autumn 2021), with a final decision on the 8 further schemes expected by Spring 2022.
In the meantime, and in readiness for the further stage of bidding process – we are working with the Trust on the development of a Strategic Outline Case (SOC) and supporting Estates Annex, with a view to delivering the SOC by January 2022.
PreSOC services
In recent months the New Hospitals Programme (NHP) has been progressing a number of workstreams which are regarded as the ‘pre-SOC’ activities or Phase 1 of the NHP Progrmme strategy.
The ‘pre-SOC’ activities have reached conclusion with the completion of the following outputs;
01
A draft of the Strategic Case and Management case; two of the five sections of the five-case model required by HMT Business Case guidance. The completion of these two sections gives the programme a solid foundation and outlines a clear Case for Change and Governance system to underpin future stages. These sections will be refined and concluded as the SOC Process develops, with read-across to the Expressions of Interest the Trust has submitted.
02
A Pre-SOC paper; which at high level, considers our position with respect to Financial, Commercial and Economic factors. Initial financial and affordability analysis has been reviewed for the key options and goes some way to identifying financial benefits, sensitivities analysis and captures early thinking against economic benefits, which will be developed through the subsequent stages of the Business Case development.
03
The Operational Brief. Following clinical engagement, a Model of Care has been developed in line with the Trust’s emerging/draft Clinical Strategy, as shared at the September 2021 Board of Directors’ meeting. This Model of Care output underpins the Operational Brief required to inform the NHP programme. Activity demand and capacity modelling has been undertaken, incorporating growth and agreed high level planning assumptions. A Design Brief has been established in the form of a Schedule of Accommodation. This design brief identifies a total demand of 91,280m2 of accommodation for the New Hospital Development Programme.
04
Development of initial configuration options; as previously reported, the Trust has developed a number of options to support the Expression of Interest process, which will feature in the further development of the SOC Estates Annex. These are;
- Single-phase, on-site option
- Multi-phase, on-site option
The development of these options form a solid foundation for further refinement in subsequent stages of the appraisal process. As part of the SOC appraisal process, the technical teams are also considering off-site opportunities to inform the long- list appraisal process.
05
Expressions of Interest for 8 further new hospital schemes. The Department of Health and Social Care published guidance on the selection process and initial timescales for assessing the additional 8 hospitals to be considered for further funding on the New Hospitals Programme earlier this Summer. Two Expression of Interest documents were successfully submitted by the Trust following discussions and advice from both regional and national leads, who support this approach so that the Trust continues to cover all bases to maximise its chances of attracting maximum national capital to QEH – notably:
- A single-phase new build on-site
- A multi-phase redevelopment on-site
A long-listing process will follow and announced later in 2021 with a final decision on the 8 further hospitals expected in Spring 2022. In the meantime, we are prioritising progressing the Strategic Outline Case in anticipation and preparation for further stages of the bidding process
Timeline
The key milestones for the development of the SOC are noted as follows:
- Develop the long-list (throughout September 2021 – complete)
- Appraise the long-list against Investment Objectives and Critical Success factors > identify short-list (30 September 2021 – complete)
- Develop the short-list options and collate evidence (throughout October/early November 2021)
- Appraise the short-list options against Investment Objectives and Critical Success factors > identify a preferred way forward (mid- November 2021)
- Develop the preferred way forward technical detail and conclude Business Case (by end of January 2022)
- Governance and Trust approvals (throughout February 2022 Governance cycle)
