Morgan Sindall Construction has celebrated a major milestone in the construction of a new day treatment centre at Evelina London Children’s Hospital with an official ‘topping out’ ceremony.
The event, which was attended by Florence Eshalomi MP, was held on the roof of the new building, where the MP for Vauxhall and staff working on the project signed the steel frame. The construction tradition signifies the completion of the structure of a new building.
The new five-storey multi-use building will house a family-friendly space with everything required for children’s day surgery. There will be two new operating theatres to treat an additional 2,300 children per year. This will also free up space in existing operating theatres for more complex cases requiring specialist care and overnight stays on a ward.
The centre will boast the latest equipment and child-focused technology to help families with all aspects of their care. Families will wait less time on the day of surgery as pre-surgery checks, operation, recovery and preparation for going home can all be done in one place, in one day.
The project is being delivered under the Southern Construction Framework (SCF), a quality-managed collaborative construction framework for public bodies to procure major building works using a two stage open book process to deliver best value.
Richard Dobson, area director for Morgan Sindall Construction in London said: “Today marks an exciting chapter in the Evelina London Children’s Hospital project. The hospital is already a key provider of children’s services in London, and our team is extremely pleased to have been appointed to this project which will support the site and help it to continue fulfilling its important work. We are excited to show off some of the progress that has been made so far, as stakeholders can begin to see the project take shape.”
Marian Ridley, Director of Evelina London, said: “This is an exciting milestone for our first new building as part of our plans for a bigger and even better Evelina London. This purpose-built, stand-alone facility will transform the experience of day surgery and routine procedures for many of our children, young people and their families.
“When a child needs surgery it can be a worrying time for any family. With this in mind, we have designed everything to improve and enhance the experience of children, young people and their families, and to make their visit as comfortable as possible.”
Florence Eshalomi MP said: “I was delighted to attend the topping out ceremony for the new Children’s Day Treatment Centre. This is such an important building for our community, and it has been designed with those families in mind. I look forward to seeing the building progress over the coming months.”
The MP for Vauxhall was joined by representatives from the hospital, Morgan Sindall Construction and ADP Architecture, at the event.
The children’s day treatment centre is being built next to the existing Evelina London building, on Lambeth Palace Road, and is due to be completed in late 2022.
This centre is the first part of ambitious plans to develop the existing children’s hospital, with planning permission recently granted for a new hospital building.
Header image: L-R: Marian Ridley, Director of Evelina London; Florence Eshalomi, MP for Vauxhall; Sir Hugh Taylor, Chair of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
