A new outpatients centre is now open at Stepping Hill Hospital, built by Modern Methods of Construction specialist MTX Contracts for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
The hospital is a specialist ‘hub’ centre for emergency and high-risk general surgery - one of only four in Greater Manchester. The new facilities will modernise the outpatients service and ensure the best care for around half a million patients that use Stepping Hill Hospital Annually.
Karen James OBE, Chief Executive of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said “It is excellent to see this fantastic new building open, and that our outpatients service will be available under the same roof once more, in a greatly improved environment.
“I’d like to thank MTX, and our capital, estates and clinical colleagues for working so hard to get the new centre ready and running so swiftly – a great example of partnership working.”
The ground and first floor of the £24.3m facility house the new Outpatients Department and includes multiple consulting rooms and a small number of dental treatment and procedure rooms, waiting areas and toilets. The second floor has a smaller footprint area for a plant and ancillary equipment. Services available from the facility will include orthoptics, optometry, dentistry, cardiology, neurology, oncology, pain, podiatry, and rheumatology.
A total of 72 precisely engineered steel structural units were factory-manufactured at an offsite facility while the site was being cleared and foundations created for the new building.
The units were craned onto the site in November 2024 to create the shell of the new outpatients unit. Once they were in place, the structure was made weatherproof and concrete floors were poured, which contributes to the high-quality finish of the building.
Many of the mechanical and electrical elements, including air handling units, were also manufactured offsite in factory conditions ready for assembly and final testing.
While the modular units were manufactured, MTX undertook groundworks to prepare the site for their arrival, which streamlined and shortened the project duration. Developing the site presented significant challenges, including the removal of previous structures which contained asbestos material, and mitigating the presence of a below-ground abandoned plantroom. A live, multi-service trench which ran through the site of the proposed new building required MTX to divert water and drainage facilities, electricity supplies and communications cables.
The capability to run various work streams for new buildings simultaneously while elements are manufactured offsite is one of the key advantages of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). It enables the delivery of new facilities faster, greener, safer and more cost effectively than conventional building methods, while maintaining the highest build quality .
MTX Contracts has developed advanced hybrid construction techniques using MMC, which are shown to produce up to 45% less carbon emissions when compared to more traditional building solutions.
Employing structural steel modules also enables the use of lighter-weight materials, reducing transport requirements and carbon emissions - in this case, contributing to the Trust’s Joint Green Plan with Tameside and Glossop Integrated Services NHS Foundation Trust, aimed at increasing the sustainability of both organisations.
Paul Williams, MTX Project Director, said: “We are proud to have worked in partnership with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust to deliver this state-of-the-art facility. Our vision was to create a modern, welcoming and efficient space that would improve the experience for patients and staff alike - and I believe collectively we’ve achieved exactly that. We wish the staff and patients all the very best in this new chapter, and we’re proud to have been part of it.’
