ESTATE TRANSFORMATION
The ‘future-proof’ hospitals arriving in East Cheshire
HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, recently met up with Associate Director for Estates & Facilities at East Cheshire NHS Trust, Rob Few CEng, FIHEEM, to discuss an ambitious and far-reaching portfolio of refurbishment, new-build, and carbon and energy reduction measures currently in progress at Macclesfield District General Hospital and two smaller hospitals operated by the Trust. The investment required to put all of the work in hand is the largest the organisation has seen for a decade.
I met up with Rob Few, the East Cheshire NHS Trust’s Associate Director for Estates & Facilities, at the Estates office at Macclesfield District General Hospital in late March. There he enthusiastically talked me through the wide range of ongoing improvements to the Trust’s built estate, and a concerted carbon and energy reduction drive, both of which have been made possible by the Trust securing significant funding over the past year and half. A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of IHEEM with specialist ventilation expertise, Rob Few joined the Trust 10 years ago as Head of Estate Operations, progressing to become Associate Director of Estates & Facilities. Macclesfield District General Hospital,
where he and his team are based, is the Trust’s largest hospital – a 48,000 m2
,
350-bedded acute healthcare facility that opened in 1983. The Trust also has two smaller hospitals – Congleton War Memorial Hospital – which provides specialist care for patients on Pathway 2 needing short-term rehabilitation or transition to their own home, and Knutsford and District Community Hospital – which offers a variety of outpatient services.
‘‘
It’s fantastic for my team and I have to this funding, after years of very little money being available to improve our estate, and to see so much work
ongoing or already completed. East Cheshire NHS Trust’s Associate Director for Estates & Facilities, Rob Few
Developments taking place in a momentous year Rob Few explained that it was timely that the developments we would go on to discuss at all three hospitals were taking place in the NHS’s 75th anniversary year, with the multi-million pound schemes set to bring to life the Trust’s priorities of strengthening and expanding services through partnership working, and making the best use of its resources to deliver outstanding care. The ‘vision to create future-proof hospitals’ was – he said – actively in development, while the benefits would not only ripple out across all the communities that East Cheshire NHS Trust serves, but also among staff
and volunteers. He said: “It’s widely acknowledged that it’s been a tough few years within the NHS due to COVID, as well as other system pressures. Our staff and volunteers have been amazing – always putting the patient and their loved ones first, and continuously going the extra mile. Looking after our workforce is a priority, and we have a strong focus on health and wellbeing, with many support measures and services in place that provide help not only for our workforce, but to their families too. “The very fact that there is significant
investment being channelled into the working environment is giving staff a real boost; they feel as valued as our patients
Electrical HV switchgear, before – with old obsolete switches, and after – with new, replacement switches, funded by the Salix PSDS scheme.
June 2023 Health Estate Journal 23
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