Contract to be awarded for new Worthing £33million health centre

Galliford Try will be awarded the contract, worth £32.3 million, to construct and deliver the Worthing Integrated Care Centre (WICC) and associated multi-storey car park.

The head of major projects and investment at the council, Cian Cronin, took the executive decision to award the contract to the company, which is one of the UK’s biggest housebuilding, regeneration, and construction groups.

A decision has also been made to award West Sussex (Worthing) Limited £936,000 to manage the contract.

Once complete, the ‘state-of-the-art’ facility will have a variety of health services under one roof, including a GP; mental health, community and dentistry services; services for families and children; and a pharmacy.

WBC will fund the WICC through borrowing, the costs of which are expected to be met by leasing the building to the Sussex Community NHS Foundation trust and Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust.

Originally, the WICC and multi-storey were expected to cost just over £34 million but this was revised down to £33.9 million following a procurement exercise (£27.2 million for the medical centre and £6.7 million for the car park).

Designs and a masterplan went to a virtual consultation in 2020 – after the physical events were cancelled due to covid – and councillors gave permission to award a contract in March 2021.

The original time-frame expected construction to start at the end of 2020 with completion in ‘mid 2022’.

But preparation work began in October 2021 with hoardings at the site estimating completion in ‘Spring 2022’.

A report explaining the decision to award the contract says the project will deliver ‘social, environmental, economic and commercial’ benefits, adding that any delays could see costs rise as a result of construction inflation.

WBC is expected to make a further decision to purchase properties on the site from Worthing Medical Group to enable the project.

At a ground-breaking ceremony in February, council officers described the centre as ‘a very good opportunity to use public land in an effective way to develop a partnership and bring forward an integrated care centre for the people of Worthing’.