12.07.18
Carillion collapse: MP calls for public takeover of stalled Liverpool hospital
Article by Callum Wood of National Health Executive
A Liverpool MP has said a new hospital should be brought under public ownership to allow construction to be completed.
Construction on the £335m Royal Liverpool Hospital was halted in February after the collapse of Carillion.
Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden told Prime Minister's Questions it was now "a monument to corporate greed."
But the cabinet minister standing in place for Theresa May, David Lidington, said the government was “absolutely committed" to finishing the project.
Lidington said the government was committed to getting the hospital built "as rapidly as possible" and "securing best value for money."
The Labour MP, however, argued hospitals were "for treating the sick, not for lining the pockets of investors."
The hospital was due to open in March 2017 and has been delayed several times, but much of the work was close to completion when Carillion collapsed.
A spokesman for the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust said a new contractor is yet to be appointed and no completion date has been set.