New Southmead Hospital to be built on smart PFI

A new £374m acute hospital at Southmead is to be procured through a “smart PFI” model, putting much of the design in place before the project is advertised.

It is the biggest healthcare project in England to use smart PFI, whose philosphy is to commission greater design work at the early stages of a project – an approach advocated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The 947-bed hospital, whcih will combine the specialist and acute service provided at Frenchay and Southmead Hospitals, is one of the seven large PFI hospitals approved last month by the government.