HEALTHCARE
PROVIDING A BETTER HOSPITAL ESTATE
The McAvoy Group used offsite methods to deliver a £15million contract for the construction of a new wing at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, with the 6,500sq m three-storey building having to integrate seamlessly with the existing hospital.
1 Northumbria Healthcare had previous experience of modular construction on other sites and fully appreciated how the speed of offsite manufacture can impact positively on patient care. The Trust had established a clinical need for a purpose-designed ambulatory care facility to help decompress a very busy emergency department and ensure patients are seen quickly by the most appropriate healthcare professional.
the Trust’s stringent quality standards. The new wing was constructed using an advanced offsite solution and featured a number of innovations. It used larger, bespoke modules up to 14.85m long, specially engineered to provide a structural flooring solution that seamlessly integrated with the existing building. This met the key requirement for efficient patient flows, removing the need for ramps and steps.
This was a highly complex project on a live hospital site that pushed the boundaries of offsite construction. McAvoy integrated the new wing with the design of the existing traditionally-built hospital and used offsite construction to reduce the build programme by 50% to less than 12 months. This helped the Trust to meet the rising demand for acute patient services. The approach achieved exceptional value for money and met
The first floor was fitted out as part of this contract to accommodate one of the UK’s first purpose-designed ambulatory care units, with the other two floors fitted out in the next phase of the development. McAvoy developed a hybrid solution which incorporated both offsite and in-situ building methods and maximised fit-out in the factory to enhance quality and reduce disruption to patient care.
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The ambulatory care unit provides medical, surgical and gynaecology care and a fracture clinic in a relaxed environment. It allows up to 150 patients to be treated the same day across four specialisms without the need for hospital admission. This has helped to decongest the emergency department, allowing patients to be seen by the most appropriate clinician earlier and offering an enhanced service to the community. The larger, bespoke modules, engineered to provide a structural flooring solution seamlessly integrate with the existing building. This met the key requirement for efficient patient flows, removing the need for ramps and steps. Mechanical ventilation, heating and cooling systems were installed in the ceiling voids in the factory – an industry first in the healthcare sector.
WWW.OFFSITEMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
