27 Mar 2008

Interserve, in consortium with John Laing plc and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has reached financial close on the £225 million Pembury Hospital scheme in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.  The new 512-bed Pembury Hospital will be the first NHS acute facility with 100 per cent single, en-suite rooms.

Interserve will invest £5.2 million of equity and subordinated debt in the project and will deliver facilities management (FM) services worth £75 million in the new buildings over a period of 30 years. This will include mechanical and electrical maintenance, estates management, grounds maintenance, utilities management and the provision and operation of a helpdesk. The building design maximises the location within the local environment, and woodland management will be a particularly important element of Interserve's services.

The new hospital, which will be seven storeys high with a floor area of 65,000 sq metres, includes planned and emergency surgery, orthopaedics, a women's and children's zone, day-case theatres, outpatient services and a mental health unit. Construction will begin in April.
 
Adrian Ringrose, Chief Executive of Interserve Plc, said: "The facilities our consortium will create in Pembury Hospital go further than anything seen in the NHS before. Patients will benefit not only from having 100 per cent single rooms but also from the views of the surrounding woodland which have been captured in the hospital's design. This win represents the fifth in our healthcare PFI portfolio in which our total investment commitment is now £25.5 million."