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‘London Institute for Healthcare Engineering’ gets green light
Lambeth Council has granted planning permission for the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE), an initiative led by King’s School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences with the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
HLM Architects will deliver the multidisciplinary building ‘embedded’ within St Thomas’ campus, which ‘will bring together King’s research excellence, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust’s leading clinical practice, and the medtech sector’s commercial innovation, power, and talent – engaging multinationals, SMEs, and start-ups simultaneously’.
Work starts on £29 m John Radcliffe critical care facility
Modular building specialist, MTX Contracts, has begun work at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital to erect a new 48-bed critical care building, which will triple the number of ICU beds there. The hospital currently has 16 dedicated adult ICU beds, and, during the pandemic, other beds have also been used for intensive care. The £29 m building is part of a regional approach for managing critical care demand and activity through the pandemic, and will also help alleviate future seasonal and epidemic pressures. The project’s first phase is due to finish this Spring, with full completion later this year.
Current plans are for five floors (three clinical, one for storage / plant, and one non-clinical), improved storage facilities, a seminar room, a staff room, and additional office space. The planning application stressed that the newly- created Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System (BOB ICS), ‘urgently requires increased critical care capacity to cover the South East region’.
MTX MD, David Hartley, said: “The MMC
The project aims to create ‘a seamless pipeline to develop novel medical technologies from conception to commercialisation’, transforming patient care, ‘by accelerating the translational pathway, and enabling early NHS adoption of technology’. The initial focus will be on key clinical challenges in cancer, neurological, cardiovascular, ophthalmology, oral health, and prenatal conditions, all selected for their high disease burden, and ‘potential for transformation’ via healthcare engineering. HLM Architects has led on all aspects of the facility’s design; it will incorporate research, office, and meeting space; teaching and learning space, lab, and testing sites; shared public space; areas for events and socialising, a landscaped roof terrace, and, at ground level, ‘a high-quality public space’ linking into the wider campus.
Philip Watson, HLM director and head of Design, said: “The LIHE will be located in a carefully crafted piece of contemporary architecture blended within an historic area, incorporating the most advanced amenities available, and a design that will allow research and learning to thrive. The layout features open floor plans connected by a giant staircase, to visually and physically integrate levels, and encourage an interactive environment.”
approach enables us to quickly deliver high-quality new hospital facilities cost- effectively. Our modular healthcare buildings are specifically created for medical use, with mechanical ventilation systems designed to optimise clean air flow and meet clinical needs.” The John Radcliffe Hospital is Oxfordshire’s main A&E site, providing acute medical and surgical services including trauma, intensive care, and cardiothoracic services. Dr Bruno Holthof, CEO at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are incredibly pleased about this new building. Not only will it improve our critical care environment, but it will also help us in planning for future demands.”
Wansbeck Hospital’s theatre upgrade
Medical Air Technology is the main contractor on a current refurbishment project at Wansbeck General Hospital, which is seeing the turnkey upgrade of six operating theatres, including recovery, clean corridor, and adjacent auxiliary areas.
The theatres have been reconfigured for better workflow, with new HTM 03- 01-compliant ventilation, medical gases, electrical installation, doors, furniture, sanitaryware, and finishes. They will all be equipped with MAT’s ‘flagship’ ECO-flow ultraclean ventilation (UCV) system, and a range of Bender UK surgical equipment. Operated by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Wansbeck General Hospital in Ashington, Northumberland, performs almost 7,000 operations annually, around half being orthopaedic
procedures. The refurbishment will provide the hospital with more ultraclean operating theatres, enabling a wider range of surgery, and improving patient flow and other efficiencies.
MAT says that despite the pressures of working under the restraints of the pandemic, ‘the project got off to a flying start’. The phased delivery programme is scheduled for completion in spring 2022, with handover of Theatres 5 and 6 expected this month.
The ECO-flow UCV system uses laminar airflow, delivered via a canopy above the operating table and surgical team, to create a clean zone around the patient, meaning that the surgical field is ‘free from bacteria-carrying airborne particles’, significantly reducing surgical site infection risk.
Medical IT power and theatre equipment from Bender UK includes six new PACS consoles, a medical grade PC, and fanless cooling system. These will be installed alongside glass touchscreen theatre control panels, complete with PLC interface boxes. The theatres also feature high-performance, ‘shadow-reducing’, Merivaara Q-Flow 2021 Q6i and Q4i dual cardanic, twin- arm, LED HD-ready operating lights.
May 2021 Health Estate Journal 11
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