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importantly still, recent scares about people catching infections while in hospital, often in cramped conditions never intended for the numbers now there. This has meant that when modern hospitals are designed
patient safety is at the forefront of thinking, so that the layout of buildings helps to prevent the spread of infections. All these problems should be things of the past at Pembury
Hospital, built by Laing O’Rourke for Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust: the first NHS hospital in the UK to offer all patients individual rooms. Although building any hospital is a costly and daunting process, the trust had little choice, given the state of its previous buildings. Visiting both the Kent & Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells,
and the nearby original Pembury Hospital, in 1997 the then health minister John Denham was so concerned by what he saw that he declared: “The case for doing something is inescapable.” The only way to raise the £230 million needed proved to be a
private finance initiative (PFI). An outline business case produced by the trust and other local
health bodies concluded: “The new buildings are essential. They will improve local access to services for patients, and enhance the clinical quality of services and the environment. “Without this investment the promised improvements of the
[government’s] NHS Plan cannot be delivered.” Among the problems it identified were substandard accom-
modation, with most wards more than 50 years old and some dating back to the 19th century. Beds were crowded, with 30 per cent less space between them
than is recommended; temporary buildings were used, including for mental health patients; and some patients needing X-ray had to be taken uphill in wheelchairs outdoors in all weathers to reach the facilities. “The age, condition and inflexibility of hospital buildings in
Tunbridge Wells make it impossible to achieve modern stan- dards of healthcare. Patients and staff deserve better facilities,” the trust concluded. These problems were compounded by the split of health serv-
© Laing O'Rourke
boring as to hinder recovery. Patients will also remember the lack of privacy when receiv- ing any treatment or diagnosis in an open ward. And, more
A
nyone who has been in hospital will have memories of being in a ward with fellow patients – and it being pot luck whether they were interesting and pleasant or so
ices across the two sites, causing 1,000 unnecessary ambulance journeys a year as patients were shuttled between wards and medical facilities. A contract was awarded to provide the building in 2007 to a
PFI consortium of John Laing, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and facilities management company Interserve. John Laing was once among the leading construction groups,
but during the past decade it sold off its contracting and house building divisions and morphed into PFI provider and operator of public buildings and infrastructure. Thus it no longer has a for- mal link with Laing O’Rourke, the former Laing Construction, which was sold to O’Rourke.
continued on page 17
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