What happened Robertson Construction has confirmed that the £35m Berwick Community Hospital will need to be stripped back to its structural steelwork before rebuilding can continue, Building reported this week. Work on the scheme ground to a halt last November when original contractor Merit collapsed into administration, and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust brought in Robertson as the replacement contractor in January.

Inspections since then have found that much of the work carried out before the collapse, including the internal mechanical and electrical systems, pipework, internal walls and the external facade, falls short of the required standard. Cladding panels have buckled, and pigeons have been getting into the building through unfinished sections. Only the main steel frame will be kept. Everything else comes off and goes back on again.

The trust had been targeting completion in spring 2027. That has now slipped to spring or summer 2028, with work to strip out the M&E and cladding due to begin next week.

Why it matters A contractor collapse mid-build is bad enough. A collapse that leaves work behind that then fails inspection is worse, because it turns a handover into a forensic exercise before a single new brick goes on. Robertson is effectively running two jobs on one site: a demolition and remediation contract, then the hospital build it was actually appointed for.

For the wider market, it is a reminder that NHS capital schemes carry real contractor risk, and that trusts are increasingly willing to take the hit of a year's delay rather than build on uncertain foundations.

What it means for careers and hiring This kind of project needs a different mix of people to a normal hospital build. Robertson will be looking for remediation-focused site managers and quantity surveyors who are comfortable pricing and running strip-out work alongside live new-build packages, plus M&E and facade specialists who can assess what is salvageable against what has to go.

If you have NHS framework experience, or you have worked a project through a contractor insolvency and come out the other side, that is a genuinely marketable skill right now. Healthcare clients are getting more cautious about who they appoint after a collapse, and more willing to pay for people who have already proven they can pick up a stalled scheme. The North East has had more than its share of stalled health schemes this year, so expect Robertson and its subcontractors to be hiring into this project through into 2027.