Medstor has partnered with the trust on numerous projects during a 25-year relationship and has been involved throughout the redevelopment programme, installing a wide range of equipment across many departments and supporting the rollout of the Electronic Materials Management (EMM) programme in the new buildings.
Phase B of the redevelopment is nearing completion with the recent launch of the new 30,000m2 inpatient ward block. The new building features 288 ensuite single accommodation rooms, with extensive use of glass and landscaped courtyards creating a positive healing environment that supports the outstanding work carried out by the hospital staff. The teams from Medstor and the trust met regularly before commencement to develop a programme of work and continued close liaison throughout the project. As a result, work has gone smoothly and all deadlines have been met.
The hospital says: “A very efficient installation programme was completed due to the attention to detail of the Medstor project manager who ensured, at planning meetings with the clinical staff, that all possible options were discussed and requirements met. Detailed drawings were provided for sign-off before any equipment was ordered and arrived on site, facilitating a straightforward installation process. Any small adjustments required once on site were carried out by a committed and very accommodating project team.”
All the new hospital buildings feature the latest technology throughout and are designed to deliver the very highest levels of healthcare in a 21st century environment that reduces clutter and is easier to maintain and clean. Medstor’s sleek healthcare storage products complement this design and care ethos perfectly, combining modern styling with user-friendly, effective functionality. Phase A of the redevelopment programme required Medstor to deliver materials management solutions for the operating theatres, intensive care unit and state-of- the-art clean sterile services department (CSSD).
For Phase B, the new inpatient ward block, Medstor provided storage in the clean utility rooms and storerooms in each of the 12 wards, as well as the new day surgery, endoscopy and angiography department and cardiac investigation unit. In the pharmacy, Medstor installed base units with worktops and in the cold rooms, aluminium sterilisation storage shelves, constructed to be completely free of welds to guarantee a fully hygienic unit.
The Northern Ireland Health Service has a dedicated EMM department, responsible for introducing EMM into trusts and hospitals throughout the region to apply a systematic and disciplined framework for achieving and maintaining an optimum level of stockholding. To support the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in the implementation of EMM at Ulster Hospital, Medstor was required to install its cabinets, trolleys and long span shelving system in all areas where both stock and non-stock products were to be located. Using EMM, after stock levels are agreed, products are barcoded and stored in a unique location within the system; to facilitate this, Medstor had to ensure all areas being equipped with storage and materials handling products were ready ahead of the EMM team, remaining flexible at all times to allow for changing priorities and the resultant changing deadlines.
The storage solutions Medstor has provided for Ulster Hospital are typical of the highly effective products it designs for healthcare facilities throughout the world. Every element of each racking system or cabinet has beautifully simple, clean, sleek lines that not only complement the theatre or ward design but offer increased storage capacity, better cost efficiency through improved stock control, and dramatically enhanced infection control. All products by Medstor are designed and built in-house in the UK, quality is controlled from start to finish, with a dedicated team working to guarantee the most successful and aesthetic utilisation of space.
