Berwick’s new hospital, once due to open in 2022, will now open in 2028.
The building’s interior will be stripped out due to the defective work by original contractors Merit, which collapsed into liquidation in November 2025.
Northumberland County Council Councillors have stated they would support any public enquiry into the original contractor.
At Northumberland County Council’s (NCC) Health and Wellbeing Overview Scrutiny Committee meeting, on 1 September, Chair, Councillor Georgina Hill, described the build to date as ‘botched in many ways’.
Project-lead, Damon Kent, Managing Director of Estates and Facilities at the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHNHSFT) said stripping back to ‘the frame, the main building’s’ exterior walls’ is part of the remedial works.
This will require additional expense and Mr Kent said the final costs for the project are as yet unknown. New contracter, Robertsons Construction Ltd, is in the process of completing the assessment it started earlier this year.
What is clear is that opening day will now not happen before Spring/Summer 2028.
In addition, the Committee recommended that it would ‘support a public inquiry or other mechanism for accountability around the appointment and activity of the original contractor.’
The £35 million Berwick Community Hospital, formerly Berwick Infirmary, originally had a £25 million budget, funds loaned by Northumberland County Council to the Trust.
Damon Kent works alongside Marion Dickson, Executive Director for Nursing, Midwifery, Allied Health Professionals, Surgery and Community Services at NHNHSFT. Earlier this year Mr Kent took up the additional role of MD at QE Facilities (QEF), a subsidiary of Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust.
A deep-dive into the Berwick Hospital saga will be published in the next print issue of The Bridge, due in an outlet near you around 9 September.