Tyneside NHS PFI to bypass BAFO stage

The client for a £20m-plus PFI hospital deal in the North East may bypass a key stage of the tender process to speed up the project.

It is understood that the Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland Mental Heath NHS Trust could miss out the best and final offer stage and go straight to appointing a preferred bidder to build a 211-bed mental health unit at St George's Hospital, Morpeth.

An insider said: "The Trust is still evaluating bids from three consortia and depending on the outcome, a preferred bidder may be on board by mid-September."

In the running are the Robertson Group, Balfour Beatty/Norwich Union and Jarvis Projects.