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Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust Ophthalmology Unit
CLIENT: ST JAMES UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL | TYPE OF WORK: REFURB | DURATION: 38 WEEKS | VALUE: £5.5m | SECTOR: HEALTH
The largest provider of specialist hospital ophthalmology services in Yorkshire is run by Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust, which treats over 100,000 people every year.
The Trust wanted to reconfigure their existing space to house multiple existing services under one roof at Gledhow Wing of St James Hospital. This much needed refurbishment required a bigger clinical space designed to update patient care, increase accessibility and reduce outpatient backlog. Leeds Teaching Hospital knew this required a project team with strong track record for delivering under tight deadlines, to a sector with the highest standards.
Following a competitive tendering process under the Procure Partnership framework, I&G were the ones to secure the job, scoring highly in offering the best value for money and quality
Project delivery
With the end-user in mind, the unit needed a space with improved access and wayfinding, for easy navigation for patients, allowing specialist teams to provide expert support and care for the largest outpatient department. Which is exactly what we needed to do with the building – to deliver a space and allow the client to deliver optimised patient care, improving capacity and building confidence with the client that we could deliver quickly so to reduce the outpatient backlog at Ophthalmology following the growing demand from the result of the pandemic.
Works included:
- Full strip out and refurbishment of existing office and secretary space
- Huge reconfiguration of the area to make way for multiple eye care departments
- Creation of a 2500 m² facility with new consultation rooms, refractive unit, laser surgery, treatment and virtual clinic room
- Modernisation of the space to bring it more in line with the latest NHS standards
- Improved accessibility for partially sighted people, including voice activated lifts and bespoke colour schemes
- Different coloured waiting areas for identifying zones
Result
Live communication took place between I&G Site Manager Garry Higgins and representatives from Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, as well as regular meetings to track progress throughout the scheme and tours for clinical staff at hand over stage.
Following the successful decant and handover of the previous ophthalmology unit, works are underway at Chancellor Wing to create a brand-new emergency unit to increase ED services and improve the patient flow throughout the busiest department within the hospital.
Local labour: 80%
Local spend: 70.57%
Schemes of this nature are extremely challenging, but that’s what I&G thrive on – although complex, the whole process is extremely rewarding for all involved!