MODERN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION
procedures are day case, which is why the new REI is set up as it is. One theatre here is dedicated solely to cataract procedures.” Operations performed in the other two include vitreo retinal surgery, ocular plastic surgery, and glaucoma surgery. Gill Nicholson explained: “Having three theatres set up with anaesthetic rooms gives us considerable additional flexibility, while the first floor houses the new Macular Treatment Centre.” She added: “Many of our Ophthalmology patients are long-standing, and at the official opening in October, our longest standing patient, Robert Johns, cut the ribbon.” She explained that in addition to the three new theatres and associated anaesthetic rooms and recovery areas, the ground floor houses a new ‘walk-in’ Urgent Care Centre, open 8.00 am – 6.00pm weekdays, with additional weekend cover.
Outpatient facilities On the first floor are the new Outpatient facilities, including a Paediatric-specific area, the main adult outpatient unit, and the Macular Treatment Centre. Commonly patients with macular conditions visit every two weeks for an injection, and in the new REI they can have an imaging assessment simultaneously, making the new MTC a ‘one-stop-shop’ for them. The first floor incorporates eight imaging rooms. Gill Nicholson explained: “Ophthalmic care and treatment requires a lot of specialist diagnostic equipment; we predominantly use Zeiss equipment. Our Imaging team runs Saturday imaging-specific lists upstairs for both our glaucoma virtual risk stratification pathway and macular treatment risk stratification pathways; both imaging-led. They are GIRFT (Getting It Right First Time)-recommended, and thus classified as best practice.” Within the Macular Treatment Centre
there is an imaging area, orthoptist rooms, and optometry-led services and consultant facilities. As Service Line manager, Gill Nicholson supports all services within ophthalmology, including governance structures, working with a team to devise and implement best practice pathways, liaising with the clinicians to ensure that their pathways are up and running, helping write business cases, and during construction she also project-managed the new REI. She said: “We have 200 staff in Ophthalmology, and everyone has been delighted to come back together in a new, state-of the art building. The space vacated on level 3 of the main hospital now houses a new ward and a Frailty Unit.” To simplify patient access, the REI building has a sizeable ‘patient only’ car park around its perimeter, the Trust having secured staff parking nearby. The second and top floors, Gill Nicholson explained, incorporate a ‘very beautiful office area’. She said: “All the offices – used by consultants, administrative staff, Fellows,
Formed from 112 volumetric modules, the new REI building in Plymouth incorporates three operating theatres.
and ACP practitioners – are light and airy. We also have a dedicated teaching room.” The second floor incorporates the main plantroom. “There are many thoughtful touches incorporated into the design to simplify and speed patient flow, and improve efficiency and flexibility,” Gill Nicholson explained. “For instance, the consulting rooms running down the centre
of the first floor have doors either side – one opening to the Paediatric Outpatient area, and the other to the Adult Outpatient area, allowing us to easily switch the rooms’ use.” Paul Willliams explained that the Trust and MTX identified the brownfield plot just off William Prance Road as optimal, particularly given that there was no
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