Schools ‘defects’ firm in NHS bid
A FRESH row over hospital building standards has broken out after it emerged that a firm currently being sued by the Irish Government over dozens of defective schools is in the running to build a 30-bed ward at Forth Valley Royal Hospital.
The Herald understands that Wester Building Systems is the favoured bidder for the £3 million contract. It comes despite board members at NHS Forth Valley raising concerns about the firm’s suitability amid an ongoing legal dispute with Ireland’s Department of Education over structural defects at 42 schools.
One Dublin school was partially closed in 2018 due to safety concerns, while staff and pupils at two other schools have had to relocate to new premises.
Opposition parties said the prospect of Western being awarded the contract for the Larbert hospital was “deeply concerning” in light of the design and build flaws which have already plagued two of
Scotland’s biggest NHS projects – the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and the delayed Royal Hospital for
Children and Young People in Edinburgh.
It will be up to the Scottish Government to sign off on the contract based on the recommendations of NHS Forth Valley’s leadership.
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “If the Scottish Government gives this contract the green light, despite members of the health board raising concerns about the safety record of the building firm, the public will be right to question if any lessons have been learned.
“We simply cannot have any more hospital construction scandals in Scotland.
“Patient safety must come first.
“Flagship hospitals in Glasgow and Edinburgh are facing a public inquiry because of botched construction and safety breaches.”
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs has now written to the Scottish Government asking what assurances ministers had been given about the project.
A spokeswoman for NHS Forth Valley said: “The contract to build the small ward extension has not yet been awarded and we are currently going through the appropriate procurement process.”