St Cuthbert’s Wing

Refurbishing a ward above a working hospital is mostly an infection control problem with a construction project attached. The works were separated by a full-height sealed screen with negative pressure and HEPA filtration, monitored daily, and every penetration through the existing slab was sealed the same shift it was made.

The programme was cut into four zones of seven beds so the trust never lost more than a quarter of the ward at once. Deliveries went through a goods lift shared with the hospital, which meant every load was booked to a fifteen-minute slot agreed the previous week.

Medical gas, nurse call and isolation room pressures were commissioned zone by zone with the trust’s own authorising engineer present, and each zone was handed back and occupied before the next was opened up.