DECONTAMINATION
Stoke Mandeville creates state-of-the-art SSD
A team of clinicians at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Aylesbury, recently cut the ribbon on a brand-new sterile services department (SSD), which was created in just four months – despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.
When Stoke Mandeville Hospital decided to redevelop its sterile services facilities, the need for a quick turnaround, while dealing with the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, were among the key challenges faced by the teams tasked with providing a future-proof solution.
Unlike many traditional healthcare facilities, the state-of-the-art facility was created using modular construction techniques, with some of the country’s leading providers coming together to reduce build time, offer a more sustainable installation and, crucially, provide the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust with better value for money. At the official launch event in July, the hospital’s director of surgical and critical care, John Abbott, described the facility as one of the most “modern sterile service department in the NHS”, reflecting the high specification of the build and the attention to detail throughout.
The development saw a team from ModuleCo Healthcare manage the project
from start to finish, working collaboratively with sister company and modular construction specialists, ModuleCo, and a team from MMM Medical Equipment UK – a supplier of integrated sterile systems. Alan Wilson, managing director at ModuleCo Healthcare, commented: “We’ve been creating modular facilities for NHS Trusts for almost 20 years and we have a very experienced team that has helped with theatres, wards and many other types of facilities, but this was the first time we have been commissioned specifically to develop a sterile services department.”
The main objective was to find a solution to replace the hospital’s previous SSD, but this needed to be delivered as quickly as possible to minimise service disruption across the hospital. “We were already familiar with Stoke Mandeville Hospital, as we had been involved in the redevelopment of a new Renal Unit on the hospital grounds, previously, which is part of Oxford Kidney Unit and run by Oxford University Hospitals
NHS Foundation Trust. Because of this, we already understood the services on site, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities the Trust had.” The proposal was to create a new 784m2 building, constructed off-site by ModuleCo. This would then be delivered to the hospital as 16 separate, 14m x 4m modules and assembled directly on the site. “Our programme of works was designed in such a way that some of the specialist equipment provided by MMM UK could be delivered to the ModuleCo assembly facility and installed directly into the modules during the factory assembly period. The benefit of this approach was that it would significantly speed up the construction of the unit and allow the Trust to begin utilising the services as soon as possible,” Wilson explained. “In total, the programme for detailed
design, factory assembly, delivery, installation and commissioning of the facility from the full order being placed was set at 37-weeks. This might sound ambitious, but we know from experience how much quicker we can deliver a modular facility – there is always a significantly lower timeframe than traditional construction methods,” he explained.
MMM UK took the lead on the initial concept design of the new SSD facility with a strong emphasis on workflows and efficiencies across the department, with the need to avoid any possibility of cross- contamination during operations paramount. This work adhered to the standards and directives of HBN 13 and HTM 01-01 – two critical pieces of legislation relating directly to the provision of sterile services in the UK. Working within these guidelines was
particularly important to ensure the size of the new facility was carefully considered, with future proofing in mind to allow stability, sustainability and growth of the department for years to come. “The initial tender for this project suggested a purpose-built facility was
OCTOBER 2020
WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM l 81
▲
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
