Working together to deliver better, faster and greener healthcare facilities.
MWD HEALTHCARE
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We are purpose-driven contractors, putting social value at the heart of everything we do. The challenge of building a fairer society remains, but no organisation can tackle this alone. By working with clients, suppliers, local communities and businesses, we can help unleash the potential within every place, project and person.
Our approach to Modern Methods of Construction
MWD Healthcare is a fresh partnership between two of the UK’s leading construction firms, Mace and Willmott Dixon. We are united by a common purpose—to build healthcare facilities in a faster, better, and greener way that delivers world-class clinical outcomes. We share the aspirations of the Construction Playbook to drive forward advances in Modern Methods of Construction, sustainability and innovation.
The Mace Willmott Dixon Team
Anastasia Chrysafi Lots 1 and 2
P23 Framework Led & National Account Manager (Health), Willmott Dixon
Nick Abbey Lot 3 lead
Healthcare Director, Mace
We can achieve more for our clients by working together. By collaborating, we harness the strengths of each organisation, bringing not only scale and expertise but also a local front door and a regional network. We also bring greater efficiency through an aggregated supply chain, extra capacity, and financial stability. Through our collective wealth of skills, knowledge and experience we work with our clients to build healthcare facilities that give patients the care they need, and staff the working environment they deserve.
Why we came together?
We want to leave the environment in a better state than when we found it. In an industry that’s slow to adjust we are both contractors that are taking a lead. We each have bold sustainability objectives that include switching to renewable energy sources, using low carbon materials, moving away from diesel to electric and HVO, and having zero avoidable waste. Read more about our sustainability strategies here:
Our approach to sustainability
Our approach to social value
Construction Management
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Integrated resort and gaming
Contract Management
University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH)
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Project and Programme Management
Hospitality
Integrated resort
Honourable Artillery Company
Projects
Since 2010 Mace has been working with UCLH to deliver critical improvements across its diverse estate, helping to deliver high-quality care to more than 170,000 admitted patients and 1 million+ out-patients. Mace’s commissions have included involvement in a variety of schemes, of different sizes, complexity, and at all stages of the project life cycle. Read more here
Pears Building - Institute of Immunity and Transplantation
Willmott Dixon was chosen by The Royal Free Charity to build a state-of-the-art cancer and diabetes research centre—The UCL Institute for Immunity and Transplantation. Completed in 2020, it brings together leading scientists, clinicians, and clinical trial specialists to develop revolutionary therapies for patients. It achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and won Project of the Year (Over £50m) at the 2021 Construction News Awards. Find out more here
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Royal Berkshire Hospital A&E
Willmott Dixon delivered an extensive refurbishment to the existing Royal Berkshire A&E department to ensure that it was fit-for-purpose through the winter of 2020 with COVID-19 measures in place. Collaborative working and the speed of procurement were key to the success of the project. It delivered a £180k social return on investment and 99.85% of waste was diverted from landfill. Find out more here
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University Hospital, Llandough
As part of Welsh Government’s commitment to invest in the modernisation of NHS Wales and the improvement of facilities for patients, Willmott Dixon has delivered a new 26-bed spinal rehabilitation unit, a purpose-built hydrotherapy unit and refurbishment and extension work to existing wards. This has replaced the outdated facilities currently at Rockwood Hospital in Cardiff. Find out more here
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Tessa Jowell Health Centre, Dulwich
Willmott Dixon created a new health care centre on the site of Dulwich Community Hospital to improve GP and community-based services. Located over 3 storeys the centre provides primary care, mental health, community, and children’s services, as well as diagnostics and physiotherapy. Workshops were held with 23 stakeholder groups at inception to tease out expectations for the new facility. Find out more here
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Sterile Services Building, Liverpool
Willmott Dixon’s team of experts in the health sector have created a new Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD) located on the Broadgreen Hospital site for the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital NHS Trust. The new purpose-built and designed CSSD is a step-change for sterile services at the Trust and is a great example of collaborative working. Find out more here
A Mace and Willmott Dixon healthcare partnership
We are building better, faster and greener through the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). Through the use of MMC, programmes can be 30% faster than traditional construction, with up to 60% fewer people on site. Read more about how we are transforming the industry through MMC here.
Steps Without Footprints
Now or Never, Our decisive decade
Mace Foundation
Willmott Dixon Foundation
Mace Innovation
Willmott Dixon off-site manufacturing
Nick is an experienced healthcare and project professional. Having a wealth of knowledge gained from both clinical and construction roles, he has delivered over 100 healthcare & academic projects.
Anastasia has specialised in the healthcare sector for 20 years, & now leads Willmott Dixon’s healthcare team & its position on the Procure23 Framework.
mwdhealthcare@macegroup.com
anastasia.chrysafi@willmottdixon.co.uk
07971 619245
Willmott Dixon
Latest News
Could Mace and Willmott Dixon’s ‘trust-based’ partnership signal a better way of working?
Two of Britain’s leading contractors are collaborating on ProCure23, the latest iteration of the NHS’ framework for major capital projects...Read more
MWD Healthcare announced for £126m New Urgent and Emergency Care Centre in Plymouth
MWD Healthcare has been appointed to build a major facility at University Hospitals Plymouth in its first NHS ProCure23 win...Read more
Funding boost for hospital construction
The government’s plan to build or renovate 40 hospitals over the next eight years is set to boost workloads after confirmation that the programme will go ahead in November’s budget...Read more
The government’s plan to build or renovate 40 hospitals over the next eight years is set to boost workloads after confirmation that the programme will go ahead in November’s budget....Read more
Two of Britain’s leading contractors are collaborating on ProCure23, the latest iteration of the NHS’ framework for major capital projects. Daniel Gayne talks to Willmott Dixon’s Anastasia Chrysafi and Mace’s Michele Wheeler about how the alliance will work and what it means for Tier One
The advantages of collaboration have long been a talking point in construction. From deeper pools of talent to diversified supply chains, the benefits are numerous. And, for those looking to reap them, the joint venture has often been the natural choice. But, in their pursuit of the latest major NHS construction framework, Mace and Willmott Dixon have taken a slightly different approach. After two years of preparation together, the pair were jointly appointed by the Crown Commercial Service in March to all three lots on the ProCure23 (P23) under an agreement known as a framework alliance contract (FAC-1). This gives the two firms the opportunity to work together on £9bn worth of NHS capital projects over the next four years. Unlike a traditional JV, however, where the jointly-owned third company enters a contract with the client, this agreement will see NHS trusts engaging in a single contract with the lead consortium partner in the relevant lot. For P23 lots one and two, which will cover projects valued at below £70m, that will be Willmott Dixon, while Mace is the lead consortium partner for lot three, covering projects valued above £70m. Anastasia Chrysafi, national account manager for health at Willmott Dixon, and Michele Wheeler, healthcare director at Mace are the pair in charge of MWD Healthcare. Chrysafi, who joined Willmott Dixon in 2009, managing its place on ProCure21+, tells Building the collaboration was an organic development between two firms that have worked alongside one another for many years on working groups and frameworks such as the Southern Construction Framework. “It was a natural progression into talking to each other about partnering for the ProCure23 framework,” she says, adding that the commonalities between the two – both privately owned, “consistently financially stable” and with “similar values and cultures” – are helping to make the partnership a good fit. Because it’s not a legal entity, it’s built as a partnership – it’s built on both companies right from the top all the way through the organisation working together based on trust. No matter which firm is the lead on a particular lot, both are expected to be involved in bidding and delivering projects. Chrysafi says this collaborative ethic is taken very seriously, with workers from each working for extended periods on joint teams and becoming bona fide colleagues. “I quite often find myself in meetings where I’m the only person technically from Willmott Dixon and everyone else is Mace,” she says, “[but] I don’t feel that. We are just one team genuinely working in partnership.” Working together means “learning from each other all the time”, Chrysafi says, including sharing innovative engineering and digital technology. With no detailed legal agreement to fall back on, sharing such valuable intellectual property underlines the importance of trust to the partnership. Working together means “learning from each other all the time”, Chrysafi says, including sharing innovative engineering and digital technology. With no detailed legal agreement to fall back on, sharing such valuable intellectual property underlines the importance of trust to the partnership. “Because it’s not a legal entity, it’s built as a partnership – it’s built on both companies right from the top all the way through the organisation working together based on trust,” says Mace’s Wheeler, to which Chrysafi adds: “It was never about, you know, a legal contract that would just gather dust on a shelf… it was very much about the true relationships of partnership working.” The collaborative approach yields significant benefits to the client, according to Wheeler, with the alliance able to draw from the skills bases and processes of both organisations, instead of offering a “one-size-fits-all” solution. Rather than offering a Mace solution or a Willmott Dixon solution, “the really important part of that is to make sure that we’re delivering really good healthcare facilities for patients and staff,” says Wheeler.
Willmott Dixon’s Anastasia Chrysafi and Mace’s Michele Wheeler outside the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear and Eastman Dental Hospitals in Holborn, central London
The modular facade of the Mace-built Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear and Eastman Dental Hospitals in Fitzrovia, central London. This is the kind of prefabrication likely to be used for P23
“We look at the projects as an independent, and what the client is trying to achieve, and then we look at how we are best to respond to that.” Wheeler adds that the alliance had a natural compatibility with regards to suppliers and subcontractors, with Willmott Dixon bringing regional contacts and Mace providing big complex central London and home counties supply chains – although Chrysafi says the quality demanded by both firms meant the pool of suppliers was “not quite as different as you would think”. Several projects have so far been procured through P23, the fourth generation of ProCure, and the Mace-WD partnership is working on a handful (though they remain tight-lipped about the details). The ProCure frameworks have always emphasised collaborative approaches to working and Wheeler, who joined Mace in June, was involved in its first iteration as a client, having previously worked for trusts and clinical commissioning groups within the NHS. She says the framework has been “revolutionary”, changing the previously adversarial relationship. “Everyone was ‘I’m the client, you’re the builder, you’re the designer’,” she recalls, describing how she at first found the approach “a shock”, but quickly became “a complete advocate” of collaboration. On her involvement in the first ProCure21 iteration, she said the joint trainings on the details of the contract were “really weird”, but that they ultimately meant that if a firm involved in the contract raised an early warning notice “everybody wasn’t surprised” and action was taken to secure supply. “This was just a way of helping everyone to manage and manage efficiency, and that all came out of the Latham report […] trying to make the industry more effective.” “If you’ve got a repeatable design and you do that 10 times, obviously, that’s going to create efficiencies […] it’s all about savings for the NHS” As the first of the ProCure frameworks to be delivered in collaboration with the Crown Commercial Service, P23 will ensure that NHS capital works adopt the principles of the government’s Construction Playbook, which include a focus on sustainability and modern methods of construction. One element of this is the idea of repeatability in the design of healthcare infrastructure, a theme which the alliance is enthusiastic about. Chrysafi says: “If you’ve got a repeatable design and you do that 10 times, obviously, that’s going to create efficiencies in how you build it. It’s going to create efficiencies with flooring and door sets and ceiling finishes, so that we have suppliers that we have preferential rates and extended warranties – it’s all about savings for the NHS.”
Wheeler, who began her career as a nurse in Portsmouth, emphasises the clinical benefits of standardisation, pointing to the therapy room at the Mace-built Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals near Warren Street, where this interview is being conducted. “From an operational point of view, if they were designing this room, for example, and this room was repeated over and over again, and you’ve got staff that are new, staff that are bank or agency – every room they go in they can find the same things,” she says. “If you’re in an emergency situation, you want to come in and you want to know that the thermometers are over in that corner and the so-and-so is in that corner – it does make a difference.” >> Also read: Projects: University College Hospital, London Wheeler says there has been huge enthusiasm within both firms to work on P23 projects, something that she attributes to the important role hospitals play in society. “Especially with bigger hospitals, they are anchor institutions in the community,” she says. “A hospital employs thousands of staff, whether it’s clinicians or backroom staff, or maintenance, delivery people. But also you think, look at these hospitals, where we are, there’s all sorts of small businesses that also set up to support the people that go into hospital and are working in a hospital […] You feel you’re not just doing a building but giving something back to a community, and it might be your community, or it might be your family going into that building.” Both team leaders are positive about the prospects of the alliance and Chrysafi says the firms have spoken about extending the joint initiative to other sectors and frameworks. But they are cautious about heralding a brave new era of collaboration, emphasising the importance of making the partnership work on the project at hand. “We haven’t made any decisions in that area, but it’s certainly an aspiration for us going forward,” says Chrysafi.
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MWD Healthcare has been appointed to build a major facility at University Hospitals Plymouth in its first NHS ProCure23 win. The partnership between Mace and Willmott Dixon secured a place earlier this year across all three lots of the healthcare framework.
“The new facility will give increased space to care effectively and efficiently for those people and enable us to treat patients from across Devon and Cornwall in a timely way. The facility is urgently needed to copy with the growing demand for urgent care services. “Derriford Hospital is the largest specialist teaching hospital in the South West peninsula and the region’s major trauma centre so we’re very pleased to make the announcement today about the appointment of our construction partner and take the next step on this important journey. “Finally, we would like to thank staff, patients, families and visitors for their support and patience as we work hard to minimise disruption during the enabling works to deliver the most up-to-date healthcare environment now and for the future.” MWD Healthcare was appointed to all three lots of the NHS ProCure23 (P23) Framework in March this year, marking a significant step forward for collaborative construction in England’s healthcare sector. It sees the two UK contractors work together on NHS construction projects under a FAC-1 Framework Alliance Contract to bid for work across the three value bands identified by the framework: regional projects valued below £20m, projects between £20m to £70m and projects worth more than £70m.
Work on the new 17,000 m2 purpose-built Urgent and Emergency Care Centre at Derriford is planned to start in 2023. It will replace the current Emergency Department, offering new facilities for the most unwell patients as well as same day emergency care to reduce waiting times, particularly for people who need to be treated but not admitted to hospital. The facility will include state-of-the art diagnostic equipment to support faster diagnosis, as well as new interventional radiology theatres and surgical theatres to be able to treat patients more quickly and improve patient outcomes. Neal Stephens, managing director for Willmott Dixon in the West Country said: “We’re delighted to be chosen for this major project, our first as part of the alliance with Mace for the Procure23 framework. This collaboration gives customers like University Hospitals Plymouth access to some of the best healthcare skills in the industry. “Also, as a local company with offices in Exeter and Plymouth, we’re very much looking forward to being part of an exciting new chapter for Derriford to support the health needs of Devon, Cornwall and beyond. A major focus for us will be on ensuring our work sustains local jobs and supports SMEs across the region, as well as providing upskilling opportunities.” Terry Spraggett, Managing Director for Mace Construction (Public Sector) said “We are delighted the partnership we set out on two years ago has now been awarded its first contract. We are excited to show how by working together, we can bring a fresh approach to construction delivery supporting University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust and wider NHS ambitions.” Stuart Windsor, future hospital director at University Hospitals Plymouth said: “We are really delighted to have partnered with Mace Willmott Dixon Healthcare to deliver this vital new facility for our patients, our staff and for the people of Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall, as part of the New Hospitals Programme.
The government’s plan to build or renovate 40 hospitals over the next eight years is set to boost workloads after confirmation that the programme will go ahead in November’s budget.
More approvals Another major hospital project to recently secure planning permission is a proposed £42 million children’s heart surgery unit at the city’s Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Project ID: 22270513). Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust must get final business case sign-off but providing that is secured, contractor Robertson should start construction work in April 2023. The finished scheme must reach BREEAM Outstanding rating, which reflects a government shift towards greener construction on public works such as hospitals. Glenigan’s economics director Allan Wilén comments: “The proposed 15% reduction of energy consumption from buildings and industry by 2030 will provide incentive for builders to design to the highest environmental standards. “This will have an impact on project timelines for the construction industry as firms scramble to stay compliant. But it sets the scene for a renewed focus on greener, cleaner building materials and a potential opportunity for green construction and the retrofit community." With a major pipeline of work now secured, the challenge for contractors and materials companies will be meeting these new challenging standards.
In the Autumn Statement the government allocated £12 billion to the Department of Health and Social Care capital budget for 2022-23 and Glenigan’s construction market research can reveal that many of these proposed hospital projects already have planning permission. In the 12 months to September 2022, 151 hospital projects across the UK secured planning consent. The total value of these schemes is nearly £2.5 billion, which is a rise of 37% on the total value of hospital work approved in the previous year. The region with the largest amount of approved work is the South West, where 20 hospital schemes valued at more than £700 million have won planning permission in the last year. The largest is the £466 million Jersey General Hospital scheme, which has been given formal consent by the island’s minister of the environment (Project ID: 16216255). A joint venture between local firm Rok and Spanish giant FCC is expected to start work in the New Year, Also in the pipeline in this region is a £126 million redevelopment of Derriford Hospital in Plymouth in Devon to provide a new emergency department (Project ID: 21469693). MWD Healthcare – a joint venture between Mace and Willmott Dixon – is due to start construction in the New Year. Capital plans The next biggest region in terms of work in the pipeline is London, where a £250 million new eye hospital near King’s Cross now has full business case approval (Project ID: 18203935). Bouygues is the preferred contractor for the scheme, which is known as Project Oriel and is a joint development between Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Charity. Seven buildings at the site of the existing Moorfields’ Eye Hospital will be demolished to clear space for the 39,500 sq m hospital. Glenigan’s construction industry analysis suggests that demolition will start in February and full construction in May. Next year will also see the start of design work on a £328 million redevelopment of Charing Cross Hospital (Project ID: 20397032).
