The McAvoy Group completed a £2.5m contract to provide additional operating theatres and day surgery facilities at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry for Southern Health and Social Care Trust.
This complex 800m² extension was constructed offsite by McAvoy and installed on a specially engineered steel gantry, 15 metres above ground level. This solution allowed the new facilities to be connected to the existing theatre complex at first floor level of the main hospital to maintain patient flows. A 230m² plant room was located on the roof to accommodate specialist air handling equipment and other M&E systems.
Key objectives for the project included the need for flexibility, versatility, sustainability and value for money.
Design Criteria
Designed to provide the highest standards of infection control, the building provides two operating theatre suites which include scrub areas, preparation, utility and anaesthetic rooms; stage one and two recovery wards with discharge lounges and ancillary spaces; an eight-bed day surgery unit, and an endoscopy decontamination suite. The new building was designed to ensure interaction with the existing fire management regime. The M&E solution was developed to facilitate a laminar flow for infection control, as well as an extensive plant room suite.
The design and specification of Daisy Hill Hospital is in compliance with all current Health Technical Memorandums (HTM’s) and Health Building Notes (HBN’S) and provides the latest technology enabling medical professionals to deliver modern, effective healthcare.
The Offsite Solution
McAvoy has extensive experience in developing bespoke building solutions for highly constrained hospital sites and in minimising disruption to patient care during construction. As at Daisy Hill Hospital, sites that are less suited to traditional construction methods can be developed and existing facilities can be expanded rapidly and cost effectively, both vertically and horizontally.
The use of a McAvoy offsite solution provided a flexible building to meet the Trust’s future needs. A rigorous Traffic Management Plan was also put in place and strictly adhered to due to the restricted access of the works area at the operational hospital.