sponsored by HEALTH SECTOR NEWS


Not-for-profit company ‘a first of its kind’


A new not-for-profit community interest company established by ‘a group of leading experts’ across healthcare, academia, and the built environment, will seek ‘to empower healthcare leaders with the skills, knowledge, and tools, to maximise the value and impact of their participation in capital development projects’. Those behind Healthcare Design


Leadership say its aim will be ‘to help every NHS Trust become a highly informed client at all levels’ – by training clinical and managerial NHS personnel on effective engagement in healthcare buildings’ design and development. A collaboration between healthcare planners, MJ Medical, healthcare architects Llewelyn Davies, and Professor Ashok Handa, Professor of Vascular Surgery, and director of Teaching in Surgery at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences at the University of Oxford (pictured), Healthcare Design Leadership boasts ‘a truly multidisciplinary faculty’ – including clinicians, healthcare planners, architects, contractors, and researchers. Contributors


to the training programme include representatives from Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Sir Robert McAlpine, WSP, and TClarke. Healthcare Design


Leadership said: “As the key users of healthcare buildings alongside patients and their families, it is vital for doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, and


managers, to be the principal stakeholders in the full lifecycle of planning and designing new healthcare facilities. A growing body of research has identified that all too often a gap in understanding and skills means the value that these stakeholders’ input has on the design and development process is less than it could be. This can cause the resulting design to be sub-optimal.” Healthcare Design Leadership will


deliver its CPD-accredited training in a variety of ways, including bespoke tailored courses for individual Trusts, and residential courses at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford. The next residential course takes place on 22 and 23 March 2023.


Growth plans fuel factory expansion for Merit


Northumberland-headquartered offsite engineering and construction specialist, Merit, has announced a 4000 m2


expansion at its Cramlington site in Northumberland, to accommodate its plans for continued growth.


The business reportedly already has one of UK’s the largest construction manufacturing facilities – at 270,000 ft2


(25,084 m2 operational by April. ) – and is now extending


its factory space to address increasing demand and better meet customers’ needs. Merit has doubled its workforce in the last two years, and expects the factory expansion to add over 50 new jobs. The extended high-bay facility will accommodate two new manufacturing lines for its UltraPOD+ product – an expandable full building solution, and will enable the pre-assembly and testing of two modules vertically stacked. Additional equipment, such as two 50-tonne gantry cranes and a module lifting frame, will also be included. The new facility is expected to be


14 Health Estate Journal February 2023


Merit says its ‘vertically integrated and innovative product-based’ approach ‘greatly reduces project lead times, maximises material efficiency, lowers capital and revenue costs, and significantly reduces external professional consultant fees’. CEO, Tony Wells, said: “Merit’s strategic objective is to deliver a step change in productivity within the construction industry, and to show that investment in R&D, and leveraging innovative approaches such as advanced 4D BIM modelling technology, can lead to significant improvements. Our factory expansion will enable us to further optimise our way of working, and better serve our customers.”


factory


Fast-track theatres part of surgical hub strategy


Three new orthopaedic operating theatres being built at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge by MTX using Modern Methods of Construction are part of a national scheme to deliver more than 50 new surgical hubs across England.


MTX is currently preparing the site


in a former car park with delivery of the factory-manufactured building sections scheduled for early this year. Once they are assembled with floor screeds, the internal and external finishes, furniture, fittings, and equipment, any MEP elements of the project will be completed. The new theatres will be used primarily for orthopaedic operations to help ease waiting lists for routine knee and hip operations. Located opposite the Rosie Hospital, they will connect with P&Q Wards to provide dedicated surgical beds for patients recovering from planned operations. MTX is also upgrading the ventilation systems for the P&Q Wards originally built as part of the COVID-19 response. The new 2500 m2


building will


include a self-contained plant room on top of the unit housing seven air-handling units to serve the three theatres and deliver the clean air vital for rapid recovery of orthopaedic surgery patients. As main contractor, MTX is working with multiple partners to create the new theatres, including Howorth Air Technology for the clean air systems. The new theatres are sited close to the hospital’s helipad, so special care has been taken in co- ordinating site movements and crane use.


MTX’s MD, David Hartley, explained:


“Operating theatres and other facilities created for NHS Trusts by MTX are specifically engineered for medical use, with the unit at Addenbrooke’s equipped with ventilation systems designed to optimise clean air flow and meet clinical needs.” The new surgical hubs across England will focus mainly on providing high-volume, low complexity surgery, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72