FAST-TRACK PROJECTS
Further views of the surge hub taking shape at the Royal Preston Hospital site.
Highfield Consultancy, and have provided programme management for the Trust on a number of previous capital schemes, working with both the Capital and Operations and Nursing teams. I liaise to a significant degree between the Clinical teams, and others involved in such projects, and report both to Cliff, and to the Trust’s Executive director, Faith Button. This means that schemes are delivered from both an Estates and a clinical perspective from day one. When we got the initial call about the need for the surge hub, it was all about piecing it together, amid considerable initial uncertainty over who’d do what. By that I mean that if, normally as a Trust, we were asked to build a facility in 12 weeks, everybody would know each other’s roles, but here we were working with multiple partners. This was one of the biggest challenges in the first week or so, but, regardless of what role people thought they had at the start, we soon worked out where the ‘gaps’ where, and with a collective will, all pulled together.”
Deadline pressures I asked whether NHSE/I had given the Trust a clear deadline on when the new facility should be operational. Cliff Howell said: “It has since been nationally recognised that our three-week turnaround was remarkable.” In taking over a sizeable former car park, the hospital lost some 200 spaces; I wondered how the Trust had addressed this. Cliff Howell said: “When the contractors finished with their site compound, we were able to reinstate 50 spaces. We’ve since set up a ‘park and ride’ facility to the Royal Preston Hospital from a non-patient site about two miles away.” Louise Testa said: “I think one of the biggest successes of this unusual scheme was managing to overcome all the challenges as they arose – not just delivery of all the items we’ve discussed, but, because it was the first time anyone had done such a project, there were ‘firsts’ every day. It was a real learning curve for all involved. Many of the team had to work weekends, and around-the-clock.” Cliff Howell added: “We simultaneously
48 Health Estate Journal June 2022
of course had to manage our ‘normal’ EFM workload, but fortunately were able to keep most of the Operational Estates teams away from the project, to continue with their existing work.”
Means of access I asked about the means of getting patients from the main hospital building to the surge hub. Cliff Howell said: “We had to do a little work to the main hospital entrance doors to make them open wide enough, and some levelling out of the roads. Portering also bought a special trolley on which to transport patients across from the hospital.” He continued: “As you exit the main hospital entrance, there is a canopy which goes almost to the edge of the road. On the road’s other side, we built a covered walkway, so patients travelling from hospital to hub are only exposed to the elements briefly.” One topic we had touched on only lightly was the connection of services, and I asked Shaun Ashworth how challenging this had been; for instance the plumbing in of the water supply. He said: “Due to the speed of the installation, all the internal water pipework is plastic. From the external tanks, we have trace heating on the pipework, and everything is lagged. A dosing system treats the water as and when the tankers come to fill, and consumption is metered. To ensure water safety – in line with our Water Safety Management Plan, we monitor the supply, and sampled for Legionella, TVCs, chloroforms, and E. coli etc. All the outlets are individually numbered, with point-of-use filters at the source of each. We’ve also established a full daily flushing regime, and weekly water temperature testing. We have a ‘Welfare’ section’ within the hub, which houses all the toilets, plus electric showers – which were supplied as contained units, while the clinical sinks are sensor tap mixers with point-of-use heaters. All the water is pumped in.”
Work with the AE He added: “From a technical standpoint, we worked closely with our Trust AE, Hydrop. All the services had to be fitted within the partition walls.”
“Another challenge,” Louise Testa said,
“was working with the operator of the hospital’s helicopter air ambulance, NWAS; the helipad is just behind, necessitating a risk assessment.” I asked about traffic diversions, especially for deliveries. She added: “This luckily didn’t prove too difficult; Security literally went up to the top of the access road and held the traffic for a short period, as and when necessary. We did have some sizeable lories coming onto site in the earlier stages of the project, but we didn’t ever need cranes. The contractors used mobile elevating working platforms on some occasions. We had to remove some of the barriers and fencing to get the larger lorries onto the site.” Cliff Howell added that the surge hub is also equipped with a fully compliant fire alarm system, with its own repeater. The main overhead lighting is fixed to a steel beams affixed to the ceiling, which also houses the heating ducts. He said: “Hot water from the boilers feeds coils in the air- handling units, which then provide heated and filtered air for ventilation and heating.” All in all, a remarkable project, and one which clearly demonstrates what is possible on a busy healthcare site given a combination of expert project management, co-ordination from a skilled and experienced Estates and Facilities team, responsive and flexible suppliers, and an on-site construction team with the expertise and determination to deliver to deadlines many would have imagined unachievable.
Current-day use The hub is now being used for non-COVID patients; those admitted are patients who no longer require acute care, and are typically waiting for support packages to allow them to go back home or to another more appropriate care setting. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust says that this additional capacity is ‘helping the wider system to manage discharges more effectively’. The Trust added: “It has also provided resilience to help de-escalate pressures, particularly in our emergency departments, at an exceptionally busy time.”
Courtesy of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
