Nottingham hospital car park to cost £8m more than expected

The cost of the project at the Queen's Medical Centre has increased to £54.2m from £46.2m

Plans for a new 1,500-space car park at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) will cost £8m more than expected.

The seven-storey building is part of the planned revamp of the hospital, which has been delayed beyond 2030.

The cost has increased to £54.2m and is due to be completed by the end of 2027 - three years behind schedule.

The Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust board said it was a "result of inflation arising from the delayed construction timeline".

The new 1,512-space car park will be built at the back of the current car park three and on the site of car park six, creating an overall increase of 362 spaces, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The business case for the project was discussed and approved at the NUH board meeting on Thursday, with the board papers stating the construction would cost £22,400 per car park space.

A further 1,260 spaces are required by 2031 to meet increased demand at the QMC, a board document says.

'High' additional costs

Alison Wynne, the trust's director of strategy and transformation, said the planning progress for the car park was a "big step".

"We originally completed the outline business case back in 2021 but there has been a waiting period whilst the national programme has their allocation confirmed and that happened last year," she said.

"We have been through a refresh of the business case. The first year of operation would be 2028-29."

Mark Chivers, non-executive director, raised concerns about additional fees, saying: "1,500 spaces at £22,000 per space is £33m.

"The total is £54m, even with VAT and fees, there's got to be a discrepancy between £33m and £54m."

Ms Wynne replied: "It is fees and VAT and the additional costs are things like site clearance and road access. So that makes up the difference."

Mr Chivers added: "Forty per cent additional costs is very high."

The plans will now be passed to regional NHS England and the new hospitals programme.