Law firm helps deliver £15m health development | 27 November 09

LAW firm Ward Hadaway is advising on a £15m expansion and modernisation of health services in South Yorkshire.

The firm, which has an office in Leeds, is advising Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber (RDaSH) Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust on a scheme to build an Older People’s Inpatient Unit at Rotherham General Hospital.

Once built, the development will house 42 beds and a treatment suite on a 9,630 sq m site at the rear of the hospital.

The £15m scheme forms a key part of the Foundation Trust’s major programme to modernise mental health services for adults in the Rotherham area.

The development has secured planning permission and preparatory demolition work has already started on the site.

Contractors Laing O’Rourke are scheduled to finish constructing the new facility in 2011.

Ward Hadaway’s specialist public sector property team provided legal advice to RDaSH on all aspects of the development.

Partner Guy Morgan led the team with support from Ward Hadaway Leeds property partner Judy Fawcett, assistant solicitor Laura Potts and construction partner Paul Washbourne.

Guy said: “It has been a real pleasure working with our colleagues at RDaSH on what is a key development in the modernisation of mental health services in the area.

“It is always rewarding to work on projects which will make a real difference to people’s lives and the quality of services which they can access.

“This project required a lot of detailed discussions with the Trust, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, NHS Rotherham and The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust to ensure it could go ahead.

“We are now all looking forward to seeing the new unit when it is completed in 2011.”

The development is being built under the Procure 21 framework, which represents construction industry best practice and helps NHS Trusts to achieve better results than those associated with traditional tender procurement.

Tracey Clarke, RDaSH commercial development director and RDaSH project director for the Rotherham modernisation programme, said: “This development is key to our goal of ensuring we continue to provide timely, high quality mental health care in the right setting for those who need it.

“Once it is completed, this new unit will greatly improve and enhance the services which the Trust can provide, as well as providing excellent value for money for taxpayers.

“We are grateful for the work which Ward Hadaway and all our partners have put into this important project.”

RDaSH serves a population of 850,000, with services in Rotherham, Doncaster, Northern Lincolnshire and Manchester.

It is one of only three NHS trusts in the Yorkshire and Humber region to be awarded a double ‘Excellent’ rating from the Care Quality Commission for the quality of its services and the use of its financial resources during the 2008/09 year.

Ward Hadaway has an extensive track record in advising a range of health organisations across the country.

Earlier this year, the firm was successfully reappointed to the legal panel for the Yorkshire and the Humber NHS Commercial Procurement Collaborative (YHCPC).

The YHCPC works to help more than 30 health organisations across Yorkshire and Humberside to buy goods and services.

Ward Hadaway is one of only six law firms to be appointed to provide a full range of legal services to YHCPC members for the next two years.

The firm has also advised on a number of ground-breaking projects in the healthcare sector, including the first pharmacy services outsourcing in the NHS and the North’s first transfer of services from two Primary Care Trusts to an NHS Foundation Trust.

* Find out more about our Healthcare services.