MTX Contracts, a modern methods of construction specialist, has handed over the Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre to East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
The centre officially opened this November.
The centre is named after Dame Clare Marx, who was an orthopaedic surgeon at Ipswich Hospital
With eight theatres, three wards, and 72 inpatient beds, the state-of-the-art centre is dedicated to elective surgery for bones, joints, and muscles, meaning that operations are less likely to be postponed, reducing waiting times and lists.
The build
The building is made up of 289 pre-built modules which started being lifted into place by a huge crane in February last year. This technique meant that the centre could be built more quickly than using more traditional methods of building.
MTX is the site management team for the construction of the centre.
MTX Director, Scott McCaskie, who was directly involved in the project, said: "The Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre project at Colchester Hospital is a landmark development both in terms of its size – with eight operating theatres dedicated to elective orthopaedic surgery and more than 70 patient beds – and its achievement as the largest building of its kind in the UK created using modern methods of construction employing off-site manufactured structural steel units, services modules and the best of traditional building techniques.
The sloping site was challenging but MTX has worked very closely in partnership with the Trust to deliver a design and build project of which we are all hugely proud
"The sloping site was challenging but MTX has worked very closely in partnership with the Trust to deliver a design and build project of which we are all hugely proud, and which will make a massive difference to patient care and waiting lists.
"Modern methods of construction enable MTX to deliver urgently needed high quality facilities for the NHS faster, greener, safer and more cost effectively than ever before, and we continue to improve our processes to deliver projects which provide the best outcomes for patients and the best working environments for staff."
Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre
Named after Dame Clare Marx, who was an orthopaedic surgeon at Ipswich Hospital and also president of both the British Orthopaedic Association and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, this five-year project has seen a huge amount of hard work from all involved.
The purpose-built centre, housed in the Dame Clare Marx Building at Colchester Hospital will help to change the lives of up to 10,000 people each year and is one of the largest centres of its kind in Europe.
The centre has also created around 300 jobs in the area.
The purpose-built centre, housed in the Dame Clare Marx Building at Colchester Hospital will help to change the lives of up to 10,000 people each year
Nick Hulme, Chief Executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the centre said: “This is a fantastic day for us as a Trust and for those people across Suffolk and north east Essex who are currently waiting, in pain, for an operation that will help them to get back to their normal lives.
“We have created one of largest centres in Europe dedicated solely to elective care. The funding of which is, in no small part, a result of the merger of our two trusts, enabling us to access higher levels of funding and showing that together, as one Trust, we can achieve great things for the people who we come to work for every day – our patients.
"I want to thank everyone for their involvement in this huge project. Everyone has worked extremely hard to get us to this point and we couldn’t have done any of it without their superb efforts."
Top image: Operational colleagues outside the centre