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The European Investment Bank has agreed to provide £90.5m to support construction of the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital. The new hospital scheme, costing a total of £429m, including construction of the new hospital, demolition of the current hospital and landscaping, has reached financial close and the deal for the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital signed off and approved by the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust and developers Carillion. Construction on the £335m new hospital will commence early in 2014.

Alongside European Investment Bank (EIB) support totalling £90.5m, a further £118m of funding will be provided by the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust and the Department of Health. Remaining funds will come from private lenders including Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) Lloyds TSB and Scottish Widows Investment Group.

The new Royal Liverpool Hospital will be the largest hospital in the country to provide single en-suite bedrooms for all patients, improving privacy and dignity for patients, helping to reduce infection risks. Once completed there will be 18 theatres and 23 wards, alongside a large Clinical Research Facility and 40 bed Critical Care Unit. The Emergency Department will be one of the biggest in the north-west with a CT scanner and special lifts for major trauma patients, which go straight to theatres. Patients, staff and visitors will benefit from key services being located closer together with shorter walks and an easier layout.

Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President said “The new Royal Liverpool Hospital will transform healthcare in the city, providing the most advanced medical treatment and ensuring the highest standards of privacy and dignity for the thousands of patients using the hospital each year. The European Investment Bank is pleased to continue its engagement to support healthcare investment in the North-West through a £90 million 31 year loan for the new Royal project, that has been agreed following examination of the project’s technical and economic plans by healthcare teams with experience across Europe. This follows £55 million support for the new Alder Hey Children’s Hospital earlier this year.”

Aidan Kehoe, chief executive of the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust, said: “This is a huge moment for all those who have worked so hard, for so many years and we are all delighted to have achieved financial close on the new Royal. This is fantastic news for our patients, our staff and the city of Liverpool. We will have a world class hospital facility designed to provide a whole new approach to healthcare and help us to tackle some of our region’s biggest health issues. The new Royal will improve the health and wealth of the city creating hundreds of construction jobs and training opportunities and paving the way for thousands of hi tech jobs on the BioCampus.”

Helen Jackson, director of strategy and redevelopment at the Trust said: “We have worked incredibly hard to achieve the best deal possible for the people of Liverpool. We have gained significant backing from the European Investment Bank and have incorporated the use of institutional pension funds, with the involvement of LGIM.  The deal we have achieved has further reduced the annual repayment (the Unitary Payment) which will now be over £10m less than the initial projections and will mean our annual repayments will be around just 5% of our income. This is one of the lowest cost public private deals ever.”

Carillion Chief Executive, Richard Howson, said: “We are delighted to have achieved financial close on this exciting new hospital, which will be our sixteenth PPP hospital in the UK.  We look forward to working in partnership with the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust to deliver a state-of-the-art hospital that will bring substantial benefits to the people of Liverpool.”

Liverpool Riverside MP Louise Ellman, who has been a key figure in the campaign for the new Royal, said: “This is amazing news for the people of Liverpool. The new Royal will have a massive impact on local people for generations to come. Firstly in the wealth of jobs and training opportunities it will bring to the city and later in terms of the improved healthcare environment and the development of Liverpool as a world centre for life sciences. I have supported this project for many years and I am delighted to see it has finally been signed, sealed and ready to be delivered.”

The new hospital will be one of the ‘greenest’ in the country, with renewable energy systems, low carbon technology, use of water meters and leak detection systems. During the four year construction it is expected that 750 full-time jobs will be created with 60 per cent of jobs going to local people. Construction will contribute about £240 million to the local economy as well as providing 75 to 100 apprenticeships.

Background informations

The European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust

As one of the busiest university teaching hospital trusts in north-west England the hospitals provide a wide range of specialist services to 750,000 people each year within a total catchment population of more than two million people in Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, the Isle of Man and beyond. Many of services are highly regarded nationally and internationally including ophthalmology, pancreatic surgery, gastroenterology, pathology, vascular surgery and interventional radiology. The hospital is the largest and busiest Emergency Department in Liverpool, part of the Major Trauma Centre Collaborative for Merseyside and Cheshire and a major centre for the diagnosis, treatment, care and research of cancer.

Carillion

Carillion is a leading support services company with a substantial portfolio of Public Private Partnership projects and extensive construction capabilities. The Group had annual revenue in 2011 of £5.1 billion, employs around 45,000 people and operates across the UK, in the Middle East and Canada. Carillion has a longstanding history of successfully completing major projects both in the UK and overseas including Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth and Southmead Hospital in Bristol which is currently under construction. Carillion has financially closed 16 PPP health projects, including the first PFI hospital in the UK at Darent Valley, Dartford. Carillion is a committed construction partner in Liverpool and their heritage here extends back to the Cunard Building, and more recently, the re-development of the Albert Docks, the Conservation Centre, Customs and Excise Building at Kings Dock, Beetham West Tower and the Met Quarter. This and other Carillion news releases can be found at www.carillionplc.com.