MTX, a UK-based specialist in modern methods of construction (MMC), has delivered the discharge lounge and palliative care ward in a new facility at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King’s Lynn within the deadline.
The start of the build was previously reported on in March.
The contract was awarded by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust.
The new building
The two-storey facility is a stand-alone building that has been designed to be reused when the planned new hospital is built, with bespoke ground floor and first-floor corridors linking back to the main building and hospital ‘street’.
Located in a courtyard at the rear of the hospital site, the new location allows easier access for patients and staff, and will take high volumes of site traffic away from the busy hospital ‘front door’ and Emergency Department areas of the site.
The two-storey facility is a stand-alone building that has been designed to be reused when the planned new hospital is built
The new location will also enhance privacy for patients being discharged.
The design includes a new bed lift for easy patient access to the ground floor discharge area. Internal fit-out of the new building included HTM-compliant air handling systems along with power, medical gases, and other bedside services.
The new discharge lounge and RAAC
The new six-bed discharge lounge was commissioned to support the ongoing Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) failsafe programme of works within the QEH site.
The discharge lounge provides care for patients who are ready to leave the hospital as they wait to go home or receive further care in the community.
The new six-bed discharge lounge was commissioned to support the ongoing RAAC failsafe programme
The existing discharge lounge will be demolished as part of the RAAC eradication works.
Chief Operating Officer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, Simon Illingworth, said: "The discharge lounge will have a positive impact on flow through our hospital. Every patient who is ready to be discharged that we can get home or into community has a positive impact on other patients waiting for treatment and frees up beds on our wards for people who need acute medical care."
The new palliative care unit
The new 5-bed palliative care ward on the first floor of the new building provides patients with a dignified and comfortable place to receive end-of-life care.
It has been specially designed to provide a calming and peaceful space away from busy hospital wards.
Each of the rooms is en-suite and sympathetically equipped so that family members can be comfortable as they spend precious time with their loved ones.
Modern Methods of Construction
MTX used Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) for this build. This method was chosen following the company’s successful delivery of the new Endoscopy building on the QEH site in 2023.
MTX had demonstrated an understanding of the complexity and specific site issues associated with QEH and building within an active blue light area.
MTX used Modern Methods of Construction for this build
MTX Managing Director, David Hartley, explained: "The new building was fabricated offsite whilst complex enabling works and site preparation was undertaken prior to the factory-manufactured structural units arriving on site. The project required re-routing of existing services and building within the constraints of a tight courtyard site surrounded by live hospital wards and the Macmillan Centre."
"This meant craning in modules was the best solution because it reduced overall site/construction time and fit within the tight RAAC programme, whilst minimising disruption to the existing site operation and services," Hartley continued.
"Using MMC principles enables us to maximise offsite manufacturing opportunities and the use of precisely engineered structural modules to build faster, safer, greener, and more cost-effective. Successful completion of other projects with the Trust laid the foundations for the award of this contract, to continue improving patient facilities at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital," Hartley concluded.
Top image: Inside the new discharge lounge at QEH King's Lynn
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