North Middlesex Hospital

						
							Solution						

							Rental

						
							Programme						

							16 weeks

						
							Size						

							20 bed ward building

						
							Hire period						

							18 months

The Brief

Following a surge in demand for hospital services during the Covid-19 pandemic combined with the peak winter period, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust needed to rapidly expand ward capacity to re-start elective care services.

The Challenges

Reduced programme from order to completion. Working seven days a week, Premier pulled out all the stops to reduce time on site from around 10 weeks to just six weeks, to bring the building into use as fast as possible for critical patient service provision. The project was delivered during a lockdown in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and so involved stringent social distancing in the factory and on site, and regular Covid testing for the site teams.

Designing new wards in a fast-changing environment. Because the building was delivered in the pandemic, compliance for Covid-19 infection control guidelines was critical. The guidance changed several times as the building was being designed, which Premier was able to accommodate whilst maintaining the already challenging programme and fixed date for handover.

Minimising disruption. Access to the adjacent mortuary was maintained at all times, including during the module installation phase. The site was only 2.5m from an elderly inpatient ward. Despite these restrictions, there was no disruption to patient care and no negative comments were received from staff or patients at any point. The construction site was unobtrusive, and the modular approach meant the team was on site for the shortest time possible.Despite these significant challenges, the new ward building was successfully delivered on time and on budget.