Annual review 2022
10 forward leaps in the fight against cancer
In support of a major state-wide effort to dramatically improve cancer care in Assam, India, we brought our procurement expertise to wring the maximum benefits from the available budget and build a series of life-changing facilities.
Project
Affordable cancer care hospitals
Client
Tata Trusts and the Government of Assam
Location
Assam, India
Expertise
Engineering design, cost consultancy, programme management
LINK
A research and treatment complex at Guwahati, designated in the project as ‘level 1’, is the ‘hub’ of the hospitals network. Meanwhile, three ‘level 2’ comprehensive care centres have been built at Dibrugarh, Barpeta and Silchar, as well as six ‘level 3’ diagnostic and daycare centres at Darrang, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Tezpur, Kokrajhar and Diphu.
Getting the best care
Tata Trusts and the Government of Assam wanted to achieve a state-wide ‘grid’ of facilities to provide affordable cancer care, initially with the aim of increasing the state’s diagnostic and treatment capacity by 150%. We led the master-planning and project design, starting with the identification of the right locations for the new hospitals.
The cancer hospitals programme includes three different levels of facility
15,000
patients to be treated per year in the new centres
20%
cost saving through standardised and innovative design
We wanted to maximise the quantity and quality of healthcare that could be obtained with the available budget of Rs10bn (£100M). “Although the ‘hub’ facility has a bespoke design, we developed standardised solutions for the level 2 and 3 centres, and guided procurement for all 10 facilities together,” says our project principal, Amit Kumar.
The construction contract was won by India’s largest design and build contractor, Larson & Toubro (L&T), which brought its size, renowned technical skills and experience to realise efficiencies of scale. Our design, involving standardisation and innovation, enabled L&T to achieve an impressive 20% cost saving across the programme.
Life saving facilities
Further standardisation, combined with learnings and refinements achieved on the 10 new cancer treatment facilities, are enabling the next seven centres – also designed by us – to be delivered even more cost effectively, enabling more of Assam’s citizens to access cancer diagnosis, treatment and care.
The new centres feature world class medical equipment, such as positron emission tomography scanners