Contractors have welcomed their appointment to the £37bn Hospital 2.0 Alliance framework, after NHS England confirmed the 10 construction partners that will help deliver what it describes as the largest hospital building programme in a generation.
Following months of anticipation, and previous updates charting the framework’s launch and final decision stage, the programme has now formally named the firms that will work alongside NHS England, NHS trusts and the wider supply chain under a new alliance model.
The 10 appointed partners
The winners of the framework are:
- Bovis Construction (Europe)
- Dragados Sociedad Anonima
- Integrated Health Projects (Vinci Building & Sir Robert McAlpine)
- John Graham Construction
- Kier Construction
- Laing O’Rourke Delivery
- Morgan Sindall Construction and Infrastructure
- Sacyr UK
- Skanska Construction UK
- Willmott Dixon Construction
The appointments follow what the programme described as a rigorous and transparent procurement process designed to increase market capacity and attract both UK and international expertise into healthcare infrastructure.
“A defining moment”
Peter Lyons, Managing Director of Laing O'Rourke, said that the new hospitals would provide state-of-the-art care for millions of patients and described the firm as proud to be part of the journey.
“We will bring our 15 years of experience delivering healthcare facilities in the UK to the alliance to help deliver the largest hospital programme in a generation,” said Lyons.
Willmott Dixon highlighted its track record of delivering more than 100 healthcare projects across the NHS estate.
Anastasia Chrysafi, who serves as Head of Healthcare at Willmott Dixon, said the appointment reflects the depth of expertise the business has built over many years.
The healthcare lead pointed to the firm’s role in delivering the £140m Emergency Care Building at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, the first Wave 1 scheme to reach main construction, which will almost double emergency department capacity and provide new interventional radiology and surgical theatres.
Chrysafi said the alliance model aligns closely with the company’s collaborative approach, particularly on complex projects within live hospital environments where maintaining clinical services is critical.
Integrated Health Projects (IHP), the joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine, also welcomed its selection.
John Roberts, Managing Director of VINCI Building, described securing a place on H2A as a proud moment for IHP, citing more than two decades of delivering patient-centred healthcare facilities across the UK.
Stuart McArthur, who serves as the sector Managing Director for Healthcare for Sir Robert McAlpine, echoed Robert’s reaction.
"The New Hospital Programme represents one of the most important transformations of healthcare infrastructure in a generation, and we are proud that IHP has been appointed to play a role in delivering it,” said McArthur.
McArthur added that the alliance sets a new benchmark for collaboration, standardisation and long-term value, aligning with the company’s experience of delivering complex healthcare environments through partnership and innovation.
While successful firms have praised the collaborative model and long-term pipeline, multiple unsuccessful contractors are understood to have expressed disappointment at missing out on a place on the framework, given the scale and duration of the opportunity.
With projects structured across Wave 0 (schemes already in construction), Wave 1 (2025–2030, including RAAC replacements), Wave 2 (2030–2035) and Wave 3 (2035–2039), the framework represents one of the most significant healthcare construction pipelines in the UK market.
What exactly is the Hospital 2.0 Alliance framework?
The Hospital 2.0 Alliance (H2A) agreement establishes a collaborative, multi-year model designed to drive high performance and shared learning across projects.
In parallel, the H2A commercial agreement provides the vehicle to deliver schemes across four waves stretching into the late 2030s.
At the centre of the programme is Hospital 2.0, a standardised and industrialised approach to hospital design and construction intended to accelerate delivery, improve quality and unlock value at scale.
The programme spans entirely new hospitals, major rebuilds, significant new clinical buildings and large-scale refurbishments.
Projects range from specialist facilities to major acute and teaching hospitals with more than 1,000 beds.
According to NHS England, the alliance aims to deliver hospitals that are faster to build, safer and digitally enabled, while also investing in skills, social value and long-term capability within the UK construction sector.
“This appointment represents a decisive step towards building hospitals differently, together, and delivering a modern, resilient healthcare estate for generations to come,” said NHS England in a statement.
Building a better future
Hospital 2.0 is intended to introduce consistent design principles, repeatable components and modern methods of construction, supporting faster build times, improved sustainability performance and digitally enabled facilities.
The programme states that more than 250 pieces of stakeholder feedback, including from clinicians, patients and professional bodies, have informed the development of the model, with workforce wellbeing and operational efficiency embedded in its core design principles.
With construction partners now appointed, the focus shifts to mobilisation and delivery across the upcoming waves, marking what the programme describes as a decisive step towards building hospitals differently, together, for the long-term future of the NHS estate.
Featured companies
- Companies:
- Sir Robert McAlpine
- Willmott Dixon
- NHS England
- Vinci Building UK (VINCI Construction Management Ltd)