Now, the story of a project that went so wrong, they had to spend millions just to undo what they built.

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The project?

The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow, Scotland.

Cost? £842 million.

Procurement model? Traditional public procurement.

Outcome? Let’s just say you don’t want to be admitted there.

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The Plan

Build one of the biggest, most advanced hospitals in Europe.

A new national symbol of innovation.

State-funded. Fast-tracked. Public sector delivery all the way.

No PPP.

No private financing.

No lifecycle risk transfer.

Just a good ol’ government-led mega project... where they did not know well how it would be delivered or what they wanted exactly... but... this is business as usual, right?

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And in these conditions... What could go wrong?

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The Reality

Short version?

The hospital opened… and started literally poisoning people.

Ventilation system failures

Mold in critical wards

Waterborne infections in the cancer ward

A child patient died.

Dozens of families sued the government.

The building was labeled a public health disaster.

Just think about that:

A hospital designed to heal… ended up killing.

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What Went Wrong?

Design was rushed and unchecked.

The public sector team had no long-term skin in the game.

Poor materials. Poor commissioning. Poor maintenance plans.

No one was on the hook once it opened.

They spent more time on political press releases than on ductwork specs.

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The Aftermath

Years of remedial works.

Millions in retrofit and legal settlements.

A public inquiry.

And now, a pile of reports titled:

“How Not to Build a Hospital.”

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My Reflection

Would a PPP have saved the project?

Maybe not politically... although at least politicians would have someone to blame...

But financially, operationally, and morally? Yes.

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Because in a well-structured PPP:

The private partner has a 30-year headache if they screw up the ventilation.

The financiers demand proper design reviews.

Long-term maintenance is baked into the contract — not an afterthought.

And when something fails, someone pays — and it’s not always the taxpayer.

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QEUH is what happens when no one’s accountable long-term.

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PPP isn't a silver bullet, I say this many times — but at least it has a target... and someone to blame as I said.

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Now? The hospital has a nickname:

The Sick Kids Hospital.

Not because it treats them.

Because it makes them.

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Lessons Learned

Too much risk on the public sector, with limited recourse to enforce long-term performance standards.

Lack of emphasis on whole-life costing and maintenance

Insufficient involvement of experts in healthcare

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See you in the next failure... but for now, enjoy the lessons below.

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