Merit launches health division to meet £3.7bn government plans

Offsite construction specialist Merit has launched a healthcare division to build sustainable hospitals with improved infection control.

Merit Health will use the company’s offsite manufacturing technology to deliver zero-carbon emissions healthcare facilities to support the government’s plan to build 40 new hospitals.

The company has already completed a number of projects within the health and life sciences sector, including expansion of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult manufacturing centre in Stevenage.

In addition, it is currently working on the ongoing construction of a healthcare sterilisation facility for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Tony Wells, managing director at Merit, said: ‘The government is only going to deliver its ambitious building programme if companies like Merit enter the fold and show how it can be done.

‘This will also be a critical element towards achieving the NHS’ net Zero Carbon commitment which was announced last week. Our individual hospital bay ventilation and extraction technology also means no cross contamination, which is critical as the NHS continues to deal with Covid-19 as well as future potential pandemics,’ Wells added.