Midland Met Hospital 'back on track' as work restarts
Sandwell's stalled £475 million 'super hospital' is back on track - that is the message from Health Secretary Matt Hancock as work finally re-started after a nine-month delay.
Workers were today back on site at the Midland Metropolitan Hospital in Smethwick after the project was saved by the Government.
Mr Hancock said the hospital could be one of the best in the world.
The Midland Met is now set to open in 2022, three years behind schedule.
The Health Secretary was given a tour of the two-thirds completed hospital site to mark the re-launch of construction, which was thrown into chaos by the collapse of Wolverhampton-based construction giant Carillion.
Some parts of the hospital will have to be re-done after being left to the elements since January.
A contractor is yet to be confirmed for the completion of the build.
Mr Hancock said: "We're back on track for a 2022 opening.
"The collapse of Carillion has meant that an awful lot of work has had to go in to getting this hospital going again but I've seen and talking to the clinicians who are going to work here and have been involved in the design, I've seen how it is going to be one of the leading hospitals in the country, if not in the world, once it's complete.
"We've still got a long way to go but I am absolutely determined to do what we can to make sure this hospital gets built on time, within the new budget and I will be making sure the team keeps those promises."
The three-year delay on the Midland Met has caused a headache for health chiefs in Sandwell.
Some services at Sandwell Hospital are likely to be scaled down next year in order to 'sustain quality and safety', bosses have said.
Patients could be forced to travel into Birmingham for treatment, with some services to be shifted to City Hospital, also run by the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.
