Beginning in 2022, the £34 m upgrade at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, significantly expanded and improved the emergency care facilities at the hospital. Completed in six stages, the project involved extending the old emergency department with a new three-storey steel-framed building over the existing ambulance drop-off area, plus a new two-storey wing to the side.
Over 300 m2 of new assessment, treatment and consultation areas have been provided, including for a children’s emergency department, mental health services, and same day emergency care. The ambulance drop off zone was also remodelled.
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust chose to embrace a collaborative approach on the scheme and utilised NEC contracts to facilitate this. Specifically, it procured the scheme, awarded to contractor Tilbury Douglas, using an NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) Option C (target contract with activity schedule).
Co-operation and trust
Collaborative contracting is designed to foster a genuine spirit of mutual trust and co-operation among those involved on a project. NEC contracts are also written in clear, straightforward language to make the contract easy to understand and administer, eliminating ambiguity and promoting good project management.
This proved to be valuable on the Stepping Hill Hospital upgrade as it faced many challenges during construction including working on a confined site in a live hospital environment, dealing with hidden underground obstructions and the need to avoid disruption of nesting birds.
Speaking about the benefits of collaboration on the project, Michelle Waddicor, head of Capital Projects at the Trust says: “This was particularly useful when navigating the complex programme and phasing requirements of the scheme to ensure clinical services were maintained throughout construction with the least amount of disruption to patient care.”
One of the key features of the NEC contracts is the early warning and risk management mechanisms. Under the early warning provisions, an early warning notice must be issued as soon as one of the parties becomes aware of anything that could affect the cost, delay completion, delay the meeting of a key date, or impact the performance of the works in use.
Regular engagement
The focus on collaboration, and particularly the early warning mechanisms, ensured potential issues on the project were identified in good time and managed proactively. Michelle explains how this worked in practice: “Such discussions were facilitated though regular engagement, including fortnightly issues log meetings, monthly progress and commercial meetings, and problem-solving sessions. This created a collaborative environment where challenges were openly discussed and resolved through team-based solutions.”
Chris Turton, Regional Commercial director at Tilbury Douglas, summed up the benefits of this approach: “The collective project team worked together using the contractual support of NEC to guide our way through to mutually acceptable solutions that provided the best outcomes for the project as a whole.
“At all stages, the risks associated with these challenges were flagged up early enough to allow difficult decisions to be managed and addressed and avoiding a lot of the conflict that can arise from other forms of contract.”
Structure and adaptability
He also highlights the benefits of good project management promoted by the use of NEC contracts: “This has been preeminent on this project, ensuring that as we got to successful completion of the works on site, the final account was already agreed with no project issues left to resolve.”
The new Emergency and Urgent Care Campus was opened on time and within budget in May 2025. The new campus has reduced waiting times and improved outcomes, enabling the hospital to achieve the national 95 per cent four-hour target for accident and emergency care.
Michelle adds: “The balanced approach between structure and adaptability showcases how the NEC contract can effectively support the delivery of intricate healthcare projects without compromising essential clinical services.”
Greater collaboration on projects and the adoption of collaborative contracting is something we are seeing more and more on public sector projects. With the added complexity of working in a live hospital environment, mutual cooperation, improved decision making, enhanced information sharing and dispute avoidance are all highly valuable on these projects.
Rekha Thawrani
Rekha Thawrani, Global director of NEC Contracts joined Thomas Telford Limited in 1996, and has been responsible for NEC Contracts since 2004, with her role extending as the product and team have grown. Rekha was awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to infrastructure and British exports. The award reflects the contribution that NEC has made to UK infrastructure and how it has expanded overseas over the last decade with Rekha’s support. NEC is now increasingly used internationally on major projects across South America, Asia Pacific and Australasia