Kier has been appointed to deliver a major £39.5m hospital transformation programme for the Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal Hospitals.

The project, secured through the Procure22 framework, is set to modernise hospital buildings to underpin service transformation, providing the next generation of care at the county's two main acute hospitals.

Kier and the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are working collaboratively to develop plans for both sites, with an expectation that funding will be focused on theatre provision at Cheltenham General and acute care pathways at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Ben Ramsay, operations director at Kier, said: "Kier is delighted to have been chosen by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation to deliver such an important healthcare development programme for the region, under the P22 framework.

"We understand this programme of building modernisation is vital to underpin important service transformation at both Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal Hospitals.

"We're looking forward to working with the Gloucestershire supply chain and local community to provide many employment opportunities and create a number of new jobs in the upcoming years. It also presents a great opportunity to support Shaping Your World™, an industry-wide campaign to inspire 11-15 year-olds to pursue careers in the built environment."

Deborah Lee, chief executive of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are delighted to be working with Kier on this exciting project; they have considerable experience of working with public sector partners to deliver innovative solutions and I am confident that with their help, this investment will ensure both our hospitals are increasingly well placed to deliver the very best care for our patients and support our developing vision for Centres of Excellence.

"Kier is also characterised by its responsible approach to the environment and realising the benefits such projects afford us to engage with, and positively impact upon, local communities through opportunities such as employment, training and education."