“The scheme was completed on time, within the agreed tender sum and to a very high standard. The theatre management team and the consultant surgeons are delighted with the final product, which has now been in use for over two months. I shall look forward to working with MAT and their supply chain subcontractors when the next opportunity arises, and I have no hesitation in recommending MAT to others.” David Shepherd: Principal Project Manager, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
MAT recently completed work at Fairfield General Hospital, Bury. The hospital is managed by the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and is one of the main sites for elective surgery in the North Manchester area. The project has doubled the number of ultraclean theatres in the seven-theatre suite from two to four and increased the hospital’s orthopaedic capacity. As part of an initiative to increase available ward space at North Manchester General Hospital, the trust is in the process of moving some of its orthopaedic operations to Fairfield General Hospital; the two upgraded theatres mean Fairfield is fully prepared for the increased number of surgeries, and will be able to treat patients in the most advanced theatre environment, designed to incorporate the latest technological advancements.
MAT completed the project with a very quick turnaround from tender to design to installation, working closely with the hospital throughout to guarantee minimum disruption to the day to day running of the theatre suite.
It was recognised that noise generation was going to be one of the major challenges as the works were immediately adjacent to the existing fully operational orthopaedic theatres and the 10-bed ICU. MAT worked closely with the principal project manager, David Shepherd, and the theatre management team, as 7 days a week working with extended hours was necessary in order to ensure that noisy operations were undertaken outside critical times.
David Shepherd says: “This extensive planning resulted in no requests to stop work throughout the whole of the contract period - an amazing achievement by MAT!” and also praised the “innovative methods of working and design solutions MAT put forward to problems that were encountered on site.”
To ensure the hospital was ready in good time to receive the increased number of patients, the installation programme to which MAT worked was just eight weeks long. The project called for the entire refurbishment of 2 existing theatres in order to upgrade them to ultraclean, including strip-out and removal of existing controls, air handling units (AHUs) and water services. Construction work consisted of forming new holes through the slab for the ductwork serving the ultraclean ventilation (UCV) system, installation of smoke dampers on all existing ductwork, and commissioning of the smoke damper control panel. To bring each theatre up to the world-class standard required by the hospital and equip them for orthopaedic surgery, MAT installed the latest generation of its innovative ECO-flow™ UCV canopy. In this total turnkey project, MAT also installed operating lights with integral cameras, multi-movement pendants, ductwork, medical gas services, new AHUs and alarms, a new PACS workstation linked to the trust’s PACS network, new IPS and UPS, and ceilings and decoration in the theatres and corridors.
MAT offers a wide breadth of services that mean is it able to respond flexibly and quickly to the specific needs of each client. With its own manufacturing facility and dedicated team of highly skilled engineers, the company manufactures and supplies bespoke equipment for demanding clinical arenas. Clients choosing the total turnkey solution, as Fairfield General Hospital did, gain from having a single point of contact to project manage the entire installation, resulting in benefits such as improved co-ordination, faster response, continuity of drawings, better communication between people and products, and streamlined logistics.
MAT also offers “equipment only” packages, delivered working closely with the main contractor. In addition, MAT FM can provide a range of competitively priced and highly effective service and maintenance packages for all core products and turnkey solutions offered by MAT, ensuring that equipment is maintained, serviced and validated correctly for optimum performance.
