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New medical centre streamlines patients

The new cardiac-catheter unit at the 700 bed Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey will streamline patients who would otherwise have to travel to St George’s Hospital in London for consultation before possibly requiring heart surgery. The new centre is equipped with highly sophisticated angiography equipment that enables the cardiology team at Frimley to offer a local service, for local people, some of whom may have to be referred St George’s for angio or other treatments at a later date.

The new two storey building linked to the main hospital complex was factory built, delivered and assembled on site over four weekends. On site finishing and fitting out work took the total contract time to just 22 weeks.

According to Leon Chasteauneuf the hospital’s project manager, the design of the building was conceived in-house, with Neath Abbey based modular building manufacturer Wernick Buildings producing detailed construction drawings and project managing the installation.

Dominating the lead lined cardiac-catheter angiography suite is a 2 tonne, ceiling mounted C-Arm, which enables cardiologists to use x-ray imaging to visualise coronary arteries and the heart chamber. Patients will spend approximately 4½ hours at the hospital and about 20 minutes in the angio suite where an x-ray (contrast media) dye is injected into their blood vessels, allowing them to be visible on the x-ray monitor. The cardiologist monitors the flow of dye to identify where surgery, or treatment, may be required to improve the flow of blood through the patient’s vessels. When the unit goes live it is anticipated that eight patients can be seen every day, with that number possibly increasing as the new system becomes more efficient with use.

The new £2m Frimley unit offers great financial savings with a lean, local build-up to surgery or treatment where it is found to be necessary, but crucially, the well-being of patients is greatly enhanced as they will not have to travel into London for this diagnostic test.

Healthcare providers are finding that where new hospital buildings have to be brought on-line quickly because of, for instance, government initiatives, or delays in funding, it is often modular construction specialists who are called in to produce the building ‘on programme’. Mr Chasteauneuf has specified modular construction before and was already convinced that this was the best route for the new Frimley building. When speed is a vital consideration, then fast-track modular accommodation is usually the only realistic option. With waiting lists continuing to be key product indicators for many healthcare providers, this construction method is becoming an increasingly popular way of achieving a high quality end result quickly.

Wernick Buildings won the Frimley contract in open tender against five other companies. For Mr Chasteauneuf and his team a realistic time-scale, quality of the completed product as well as price were important factors. He later commented that, “The finish achieved by Wernick is superb”.

The first floor contains offices and a computer room that will be used by the hospital’s clinical teams. A plant room for the air conditioning system serving the entire building is also included on the first floor.

Email: jeff.bownds@wernick.co.uk