Willmott Dixon named builder of Truro’s Women and Children’s Hospital

The people who will actually put up Cornwall’s new Women and Children’s Hospital now have a name. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has confirmed that Willmott Dixon has been appointed as its construction partner for the project on its site in Truro, a decision that turns a long-held ambition into something with builders attached.

A new hospital for families in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

The appointment comes through the New Hospital Programme’s Hospital 2.0 Alliance, a national approach that leans on long-term partnership and collaboration rather than a conventional one-off contract. RCHT describes it as a fresh way of delivering the hospital, and calls the news a significant step in its plans to provide modern healthcare for families across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly well into the future.

The new hospital will bring acute women’s, children’s and maternity services together in a purpose-built environment. The aim is to support high-quality care, improve the experience for patients, and give staff the best possible spaces to work in.

📷Acting RCHT Chief Executive Officer, Kim O’Keeffe; RCHT Chair David Allen OBE; and Ian Dean, RCHT’s Chief Finance Officer and Senior Responsible Officer for the Women and Children’s Hospital

What RCHT says

Acting RCHT Chief Executive Officer Kim O’Keeffe called the appointment a really exciting milestone. “The appointment of Willmott Dixon through the national Hospital 2.0 Alliance brings valuable expertise into our programme at a crucial stage and strengthens our ability to deliver a hospital that will transform care for families here in Cornwall and on the Isles of Scilly,” she said.

Ian Dean, RCHT’s Chief Finance Officer and Senior Responsible Officer for the Women and Children’s Hospital, set out where the project sits nationally. “Our new Women and Children’s Hospital is one of 11 NHS Trusts within Wave 1 of the national New Hospital Programme to receive this much-needed investment,” he said. “We look forward to working together with Willmott Dixon as we further develop the designs and move closer to making this long-held ambition to build our new Women and Children’s Hospital a reality.”

A team already working in the West Country

Willmott Dixon is not arriving cold. The firm is already on site at Derriford Hospital for University Hospitals Plymouth, which it says is the first Wave 1 New Hospital Programme scheme in the country to start main construction. It plans to carry the same team, supply chain and lessons across the Tamar.

Graham Dundas, Chief Executive Officer at Willmott Dixon, called it a big day for the company. “In Truro, we’ll carry that same team, supply chain and learning forward, deepening a long-term investment in healthcare across the West Country,” he said. “We’ll also be focused on leaving a legacy: high-quality employment, apprenticeships, skills development, and support for local supply chains that will endure long after construction is complete.”

Designs are still being developed, with the trust and its new partner working them up before the diggers move in.

📷Graham Dundas, Chief Executive Officer at Willmott Dixon; Karin Smyth MP, Minister for Health; and Ian Dean, RCHT’s Chief Finance Officer and Senior Responsible Officer for the Women and Children’s Hospital