As NHS Trusts look to increase capacity in the battle against COVID-19, bespoke modular construction specialist Elite Systems is currently manufacturing a 20-bed isolation ward for Royal Surrey County Hospital, which will be fully completed and ready to accept patients within just eight weeks.
The hospital was looking to increase its capacity in light of the ongoing crisis, and selected Elite as its supplier due to the company’s speed of response and ability to turn the project around quickly. Elite’s team is now on-site and has already commenced groundworks with a view to the new unit being in place in June.
Elite received the first enquiry from the hospital on 13th March, and was onsite for the first visit and to agree the scope of works within two working days. A further design consultation was hosted between Elite Systems and key hospital contacts including infection control and the director of nursing, after which Elite Systems created a suite of drawings for approval ready to begin construction.
In total the consultation period, from initial contact to groundworks commencing, took just seven working days. While groundworks continue at the hospital, Elite Systems’ factory team will construct the 20-bed ward in controlled conditions before delivering the modular building to the hospital and completing the final fix onsite, ready for the ward to become fully operational and start receiving patients.
The ward will feature 20 individual patient rooms, each with an en-suite bathroom. The central space on the ward will be occupied by a nurses’ station as well as storage space for cleaning supplies and linen, a series of treatment rooms, relatives’ rooms, and additional WCs.
Commenting on the project, Elite Systems’ Commercial Director Jason Bowker said: “In the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, speed is of the essence and when we received the enquiry from the Royal Surrey County Hospital we understood that a very fast turnaround was required — not only in the construction of the hospital, but in the time taken to provide a quote and a detailed outline of the proposed ward.
“Hospitals across the UK are urgently in need of additional space, and with our team’s ability to quickly and safely construct high-quality modular buildings, and our technical division on hand to map out the requirements within days, means that we are able to help the UK face its biggest crisis in a generation.
“We will continue to make our expertise available to hospitals throughout the summer and would encourage any NHS Trusts looking to quickly expand their facilities to contact us and we will respond without delay.”
