sponsored by HEALTH SECTOR NEWS
Northumbria medical training centre’s Gold WELL Certification first
The Northumbria Health and Care Academy – on the site of the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington, is the UK’s first healthcare building to achieve Gold WELL Certification from the International WELL Building Institute. The WELL Building Standard
considers both design and operational excellence, focusing on 10 key concepts that enhance health and wellbeing. Receiving this certification evidences the Academy’s commitment to supporting wellbeing through the design and construction process through to its usage. Commissioned by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Assura, the Academy is a centre of training excellence for nursing, midwifery, and allied health professionals. The £32 m facility was designed by
P+HS Architects and built by Meldrum Group, with Hilson Moran acting as WELL Accredited Professionals.
Offsite specialist appointed for Bedford Hospital SDEC unit
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust says that since its opening last June, over 3,000 students and staff have benefited from a space ‘with wellbeing at its core’ – from the availability of healthy food choices, to a nature walking trail on site. The Academy incorporates ‘a
range of bespoke facilities’ – from classrooms to clinical practice areas, which use the latest immersive teaching technology, and a ground floor GP practice. Sharon Cook, Healthcare lead and
Project designer from P+HS Architects, said: “We collaborated closely with end-users to design a space that truly supports their health and wellbeing. Guided by WELL principles, we incorporated features such as a calming, nature-inspired interior palette, floor-to-ceiling windows to maximise natural light, and communal outdoor garden spaces to promote health and restoration. This certification underscores the meaningful impact this award- winning facility will have on both the workforce and patients.”
Workshop to focus on mitigating infection
On 27 March the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) will facilitate a workshop, sponsored by Sidara, and held at the latter’s central London headquarters, bringing together experts from across the construction and infection prevention professions to address mitigating infection risks in hospital design and construction.
and create actionable solutions’, and titled ‘Tackling the silent pandemic of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and other Healthcare- Associated Infections (HCAIs) in the Healthcare Built Environment’, the workshop will be held from 9.00 am-12.00 pm, and will aim to: n Investigate recurring issues and their root causes.
risk in hospital design and construction IPC professionals are emphasising the urgent need for collaboration between healthcare and construction professionals. “We’d encourage experienced
n Encourage open dialogue under Chatham House rules to share experiences.
n Develop a roadmap with practical recommendations for improving infection prevention in healthcare construction.
Seeking ‘to foster collaboration
HIS said: “The global rise in antimicrobial resistance is worsened by poorly designed and maintained hospital water systems, which facilitate the spread of drug-resistant pathogens. Flaws in design and construction can turn healthcare facilities into hotspots for AMR superbugs. Against this backdrop,
experts from infection prevention, construction design, estates and procurement, architecture, engineering, project management, and related fields to express an interest to participate in this invite- only workshop. Its findings will be compiled into a white paper for organisations tasked with building new healthcare facilities.” HIS says several hospitals have been associated with infrastructure problems leading to infections, some of which resulted in fatalities. If you are
interested in attending this workshop or receiving a copy of the whitepaper, sign up here: https://
www.surveymonkey. com/r/B5PQSNK
The new SDEC Unit will
incorporate consultation rooms, clinical management rooms, examination rooms, assessment areas, and other supporting services. To deliver the facility, Merit will utilise its new UltraPOD SFS variant – an expandable full-building solution that is customisable to create various types of buildings for different purposes. This variant harnesses Merit’s latest roll former, panel line production system, which the company says ‘enhances project affordability and accessibility, while significantly reducing the construction timeline’. Merit said: “The V6 platform comes as standard, rated BREEAM ‘Excellent’ as a minimum, EPC-A, and with energy consumption 69% lower than current CIBSE hospital benchmarks.”
March 2025 Health Estate Journal 17
Northumberland- headquartered Merit, an industrialised construction and digital manufacturing specialist, has been appointed by the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to design and deliver a new Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) Unit on site at Bedford Hospital. The £3.6 m facility, which will
be delivered using advanced offsite construction methods, will be completed this July. Works to manufacture the offsite components will start in Merit’s Cramlington-based smart factory shortly. Merit says that ‘by pioneering a new industrialised construction approach’, its product-based solutions are ‘perfectly suited to meet the growing demand for faster and more cost-effective healthcare facility delivery, while also prioritising sustainability’.
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