MODERN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION
new REI has in fact been leased from Plymouth City Council.” He continued: “FLEX gives hospitals the
ability to look at a finance agreement as a way of getting projects off the ground without necessarily securing the full funding from the government – in this case from the Elective Recovery Fund – at the outset.” As part of the package, MTX provides a full 10-year managed FM service agreement. Gill Nicholson explained: “The designs
To simplify patient access, the REI building has a sizeable ‘patient only’ car park around its perimeter.
Williams, and Gill Nicholson, the Trust’s Service Line manager for Ophthalmology. By way of historical context, the latter explained that Plymouth’s first ophthalmology hospital was established by Doctor John Butter, a local surgeon, in the early 1820s. Despite seemingly encountering local opposition, with the support of Doctor Edward Moore, the Plymouth Eye Dispensary was opened on 25 December 1821 in a house in the city’s Cornwall Street. In 1823 it changed its name to the Plymouth Eye Infirmary, and on 30 October 1901 – the original 22 January opening having been postponed due to the death of Queen Victoria that day – Plymouth’s Royal Eye Infirmary opened on a site in Mutley Plain.
Royal patronage King Edward VII consented to continue the Royal Patronage, further cementing a royal patronage begun by HRH the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV, in 1828. In early 2013, the Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust decided the 19th Century building in Mutley Plain, which had served local people for over a century, was no longer suitable for the ‘ever-expanding and developing service’, and it was decided that ophthalmology treatment offered there would transfer to Derriford Hospital. Gill Nicholson explained that since moving to Derriford in 2013, the bulk of inpatient and outpatient ophthalmology services had been provided on level 3 of the main hospital, about 15 minutes’ walk from the new REI building. She said: “Following the move to
Derriford, eye surgery was originally performed within the main Derriford Building.” The new REI building gives us an additional ophthalmology theatre, increases our outpatient activity by over 20%, and thus improves our waiting list position. It also provides a Macular Treatment Centre, with two purpose-built injection facilities for our patients.” She continued: “Since opening we have
40 Health Estate Journal June 2024
increased our cataract theatre provision and reduced our waiting list for HVLC (high volume, low complexity) procedures to three weeks on average. The new building has improved patient access, reduced waiting times, and delivered a better service, treating patients from across Plymouth and some of Cornwall. The building has predominantly been built for ophthalmology, but we will potentially use it for other theatre specialisms in the future. The ophthalmology surgery is predominantly undertaken using local anaesthetic here, but the new building is also set up to take general anaesthetic cases. It is great to have all of our 200 staff and services back under one roof, and to have new, purpose-built theatres.” Time was of the essence in getting the
new building constructed and operational – one of the main reasons the Trust opted for a contractor renowned for its Modern Methods of Construction expertise. In fact, MTX not only provided the finance, but also designed the new REI from a Trust brief, and alongside building it undertook all the structural and M&E-related works ‘in house’. Paul Williams said: “MTX has undertaken a number of schemes at Derriford Hospital over the years. This project was not won via a traditional tender; rather it began with a pre-construction information pack, and us developing the scheme with UHP – looking at the outset at where the new building would best fit. The land for the
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were developed with the staff, and – post- COVID – clinical pathways have certainly changed. Now, a lot of Ophthalmology pathways are moving towards ‘virtual pathways’; these require additional imaging equipment, but are better for patients. We’re now seeing best practice, improving our capacity, and getting a diagnosis quicker. This building is fantastic – both for our local community, and patients in Cornwall. With three purpose- designed theatres, cataract patients have their own inpatient area, and can be seen, have surgery, and be discharged, within about 45 minutes. Previously, in the main hospital, we could complete six cataract operations in the morning and six in the afternoon, but the new facility can increase that to 10 per morning / afternoon session. Two of the three new theatres are ophthalmology-specific but have multi-use capacity. Everything has been designed with the patient pathway in mind.”
Comprehensively equipped theatres The three operating theatres are equipped with Merivaara Q-Flow LED surgical lights and CP9 touchscreen control panels from Bender UK, which has also supplied resilient medical IT power for the theatres and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) battery back-up Group 2 power systems. Bender’s ‘unique’ glass CP9 touchscreen theatre control panels deliver control and monitoring of the operating room equipment through a central location. They also provide the alarm status of ventilation, surgical, and room lighting, and monitor medical IT power provision and uninterruptible power installations for the facilities.
Gill Nicholson added: “Our emergency Ophthalmology pathway remains on the Derriford site. Most Ophthalmology
The air source heat pumps, housed in a louvred enclosure, are energy- saving, and their use means there is no gas going into the building. They are supplemented by back-up heat exchangers and calorifiers
MTX Project director for the new Royal Eye Infirmary, Paul Williams
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