3.16 The Health Authorities required net savings of £1.6 million a year from the running costs of the Trust at the time the strategic outline case (SOC) was approved. For example, savings were expected to occur from the increased efficiency of the new building design. This would remove the need for patients to be transported between departments in electric vehicles. It would also reduce the amount of duplication of services and administration caused by the existing fragmented layout of the site. The SOC stated that the Health Authorities would review their commitment to the project if the estimated savings were to fall below £1.6 million.
3.17 Towards the end of the negotiation period, Bywest's annual price was some £230,000 greater than the Trust could afford. However, the final unitary payment figure was brought back down within the affordability cap in final negotiations. The Trust agreed to share the inflation risk on some of the unitary payment over the first eight years of the contract. After the first eight years, the whole unitary payment will be indexed to the retail prices index (RPI).