FAST-TRACK CONSTRUCTION


Dividing screens’ success at Sandwell Hospital


Ben Cohen, co-founder and Director of Building Services Now (BSN), explains how the BSN team worked collaboratively with Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, by quickly providing alterations and improvements to the existing facilities at Sandwell General Hospital to help segregate COVID-19 patients from others via a system of purpose-designed dividing screens and doors.


Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust faced an unprecedented challenge which required immediate action. As the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic became clear, the Trust had a clinical need to quickly modify existing ward space and provide additional facilities, in order to keep both staff and patients safe and reduce the potential spread of the disease. The Trust’s highest priority was the segregation of ward areas to accommodate individual beds and provide COVID-19 patients with specialist treatment.


Recognising the need to respond quickly to the evolving COVID-19 situation, Steve Lawley, deputy director of Estates (Contract and Commercial Management) at Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, put out a request to his network for the installation of dividing screens and doors on multiple wards at Sandwell Hospital in West Bromwich. Having spent many years working in live hospital wards – undertaking work ranging from refurbishment, to replacing pipework, to passive fire protection, the BSN team possesses an in-depth understanding of how a hospital operates, so we were confident that we could help with the Trust’s request. The team’s existing knowledge of clinical staff’s needs ensured that it could devise a bespoke solution for the Trust, exceptionally fast. Within 24 hours, BSN’s Head of Construction, Darren Perry, had visited the site, taken measurements, and returned a proposal to Steve Lawley. Building on previous work that BSN had completed for the Trust, approval was issued, and the BSN team was then able to manufacture the bespoke system off site, ready for installation over the Easter weekend. In total, the project took only seven days from initial concept to completion.


Designed as a permanent solution Despite the solution being developed specifically in response to COVID-19, BSN fully understood and considered the client’s future needs in creating a robust and permanent system. In fact, clinical staff commented that the systems ‘seem


50 Health Estate Journal October 2020


The bespoke solution developed and installed by Building Services Now at Sandwell General Hospital consisted of a prefabricated, prefinished dividing wall system complete with sliding pocket doors incorporating 6 mm toughened glass vision panels.


like they were always meant to be there.’ The bespoke solution consisted of a prefabricated, prefinished dividing wall system complete with sliding pocket doors incorporating 6 mm toughened glass vision panels. This provided the required segregation, yet also maintained


the full visibility of all areas required by hospital staff. As the system was developed off site, installation time within the wards was quick, with minimal disruption to staff and patients, and, crucially, less physical interaction, a major plus in helping to prevent the spread of the virus.


Safety first


As the system was developed off site, installation time within the wards was quick, with minimal disruption to staff and patients.


The Trust’s major driver for the project was the assurance that clinical staff would be able to work in a safe and hygienic environment. The hygienic finish of BSN’s solution and quick turnaround enabled the hospital’s staff to get on with their work, without any disruption. The dividing walls provided much-needed privacy for individual patient care, ensuring dignity and comfort at these most difficult times. Following the success and great feedback on the ward segregation project undertaken at Sandwell Hospital, BSN is now consulting with other Trusts across the UK on similar solutions which can meet their requirements – in clinical and non-clinical areas ranging from


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