Three bidders chosen to compete for hospital project

The next key stage in the development of the new £59 million hospital and healthcare facility in Kirkwall has been reached with the shortlisting of potential partners to design, construct, finance and maintain the facilities.

Following a successful bidders day on August 14, three consortia have been shortlisted by the local health authority to go on to the next phase of the procurement process called ‘competitive dialogue’.

They have been named as: Canmore, Farrans/Equitix and Robertson.

Competitive dialogue is used for complex public sector procurements such as hospitals and schools. It requires the procuring authority, in this case NHS Orkney, to discuss with each bidder all aspects of the contract including design, construction, equipment, financing and ongoing maintenance of the building, its systems and its fabric.

It is intended to be a flexible procedure which preserves competition between bidders through the major part of the contract negotiation period. Its aim is to reassure the board that it has secured the most economically advantageous tender available to it, taking into consideration cost and quality.

This period will begin in November 2014 and is timetabled to continue until August 2015, with the preferred bidder selected during October 2015.

The schedule consists of six rounds of meetings with each bidder.

Cathie Cowan, chief executive of NHS Orkney, said: “Our staff will be working closely with the three shortlisted bidders during the period November 2014 to September 2015. We want the best possible hospital for our patients, service users and staff so this part of the process will ultimately be one of the most important. Once this stage closes we would expect to appoint the preferred bidder during October 2015 – with construction starting in Spring 2016.”