Case study
and flexibility,” Gill 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.”
Challenges and benefits I asked Gill what she felt had been the key challenges for her in managing the project. She said: “COVID has changed our pathways dramatically. With risk stratification pathways, we are now moving towards a diagnostic service, with a lot of Ophthalmology now ‘one- stop’. I think that’s changed healthcare across the board, over the last three years. We’ve had to look at the original designs for the new building created pre-COVID, and then re-look at them and the new pathways post-pandemic.” A key benefit of the new building, she observed was: “The 20% increase in the current space.” (The new building is just over 4,250 m2 in area). “The new REI also brings improved access for patients; we have theatres and Outpatients back in one environment, and it’s ophthalmic-specific built. These are the biggest wins for us. Clearly, the amount of diagnostic imaging equipment to be accommodated has required careful thought in terms of the structure’s design,” she continued. (The base floor on the ground floor is 300 mm thick concrete for this reason.) Gill added: “While we have concrete floors, our consultants still had concerns, having experienced vibrations in the previous building. That is why the structure for the microscopes here is – as Paul described it to me – ‘an independent steel goalpost’.” “The uprights, hidden in the walls, are bolted
into the concrete, and then the horizontal is in the ceiling void, which is where the microscopes are bolted into,” Paul explained. Inside the building, all the clinical areas, as well
as toilets and shower rooms, feature an Altro Whiterock laminate non-porous wall cladding, favoured by the Trust’s Infection Control Team for its hygienic, wipe-clean properties and smooth seamless finish. To differentiate the various clinical and non-clinical spaces, specific areas have their own colour schemes – ranging from light blue to peach for instance. Theatres feature a dark blue finish, and Reception yellow. “All the signage inside is in line with the RNIB
recommendations, which is bright yellow, with black writing,” Gill 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... “We have all been on a considerable journey,
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www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I July 2024
Formed from 112 volumetric modules, the new REI building in Plymouth incorporates three operating theatres.
but all the effort that has gone into the scheme ensures that we have an Ophthalmology facility that will provide excellent services to our local population for years to come, as well as being a great working location for our staff,” she concluded.
This article is adapted from an in-depth article that first appeared in the June edition of Health Estate Journal and is reproduced with kind permission of the editor, Jonathan Baillie.
CSJ
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