ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
A new commissioning strategy The team’s response included a new commissioning strategy that rewrote the priorities for site activity, and allowed for zonal access and reallocation of resources. The Health Board team worked alongside the project team and its suppliers as wards were fitted out with beds and equipment, and commissioning and soft landings periods were condensed from 12 weeks down to four. To safeguard the workforce, everyone who could work from home was asked to do so, while on site, stringent hygiene measures were put in place, with patterns and methods of work allowing for social distancing in line with Government advice. Extended hours with split shifts were introduced, with the project team and contractors continuing working at weekends, as well as over Easter, to deliver the hospital early. That extraordinary effort gave the Health Board and its staff the capability to mobilise within three weeks, so that patients could be treated at the new hospital if there was a spike in COVIOD-19 infections. In the event, the extra beds were not needed, but the availability was a vital safety net for hard-pressed NHS resources. In contrast to the Nightingale facilities set up around the country, the solution devised by the Health Board and the project team simply brought forward spending that was already planned. In a video webcast, Victoria Head, Project director for Gleeds, explained: “It’s a long-term plan – there hasn’t been an investment in something that will be taken down. We have brought expenditure forward, but not in an overinflated way.”
Nicola Prygodzicz, Strategic director for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, acknowledged as part of the webcast discussion that the radical acceleration in delivery of the hospital beds would not have been possible without the innovative approach to building the hospital. She stated that knowing how well progressed the hospital
Pendants and lights are all suspended from the ceiling fittings on multi-positional arms. These bedrooms were among those handed over early to help the Health Board address the threat from COVID-19.
was, it seemed a ‘no-brainer’ to ask the team if it was possible to make the 350 beds available early.
Future-ready building design The design for the hospital developed by architects BDP envisaged three distinct zones - entrance, treatment, and care – each with its own integration of engineering services and simplified component parts, with adaptable ventilation and engineering services. This approach has created a future-ready environment for new technology as it emerges, and is built around a straightforward chassis that can adapt over time. The hospital is split by a central spine, and has the ward block with most of the patient beds at the front, and diagnostic and treatment facilities at the back.
Mike Lewis, Project director for Laing O’Rourke, explained that the build strategy placed confidence around the timeline. He said: “We developed a ‘one business’ culture that wrapped around a good selective supply chain that has a real
passion, and has made a huge contribution to the success so far.”
Bender UK was part of that supply chain, and shared that passion for the project. The methodology at the heart of the Grange Hospital project reflects the company’s ethos for both new-build and refurbishment projects – innovation, flexibility, and collaboration. For example, Bender is involved in future-proofing medical IT system designs to accommodate the extra power requirements of new critical care technology that will emerge. The company’s teams also equip hospitals with modular UPS systems that can be adapted and extended in the future – key considerations when Bender UK is working with designers and management teams aiming to deliver future-proof healthcare facilities.
End of a four-year journey The successful opening of the hospital this month marks the end of a four-year journey that began in 2016, when Bender prepared bids for the work on the flagship
Bender UK supplied, installed, and commissioned, 115 pendants delivering medical gases, resilient electrical supplies, and data connections, and almost 200 LED minor examination lamps.
Bender UK currently supports over 400 hospitals in the UK and Ireland, and says it offers ‘a wealth of experience and expertise in providing safe and resilient critical power solutions’.
November 2020 Health Estate Journal 49
©Gleeds
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