Queen’s Hospital in Romford has been boosted by the opening of a new £7.5m Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) – designed to help manage critical care demand and named ‘Jubilee ITU’ in honour of the Queen’s historic 70-year reign.
The Jubilee ITU is part of an £11.5m investment to upgrade and expand critical care departments managed by Barking, Havering, and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT).
This also includes a £4m investment at King George Hospital, with work set to finish by the end of this month.
Trust chairman, Jacqui Smith, said: “Our new Jubilee ITU will help us treat our sickest patients in a state-of-the-art environment.
“It will also play a key role as we continue to reduce surgical waiting lists as the increase in beds provides flexibility to treat people who have been waiting for operations faster.”
Key features of the purpose-built ITU include the addition of 15 beds, with flexibility to increase to 25 beds during busy winter months, and bright and airy spaces to provide a peaceful environment for staff and patients to help aid recovery.
An area previously used for storage has also been transformed to create the modern state-of-the-art facility.
And an air handling unit has been craned in to provide sophisticated ventilation.
Ingleton Wood, a property and construction consultancy, provided architectural, mechanical, and electrical engineering, and project management services for the build.
Partner, Paul Cavalier, said: “We were pleased to support the Jubilee ITU, which will save more lives and provide patients with cutting-edge equipment in a modern environment for generations to come.
“We worked hand-in-hand with the trust to design and deliver the project with care and put the communities across Barking and Dagenham, Havering, and Redbridge in the best-possible position to cope with healthcare needs.”