Another project milestone reached as Trust takes ownership of new hospital building
Senior staff from Brymor and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust met to mark a significant milestone last week. We have now passed the point of Practical Completion in the construction project to build two state-of-the-art rehabilitation wards on the Western Community Hospital Site.
Practical Completion signifies when a building is complete save for minor snagging works and the client – which is the Trust – can take ownership.
The building continuers to be a hive of activity as tradespeople are replaced with deliveries of equipment, clinical staff having training and orientation in their new wards, colleagues from Estates and Facilities ensuring all the services required in the wards work efficiently, IT teams connecting computers and trust networks and Housekeeping cleaning both levels of the building to ensure the wards are ready for patients and staff to use in the coming week.
When patients are moved over from the existing wards at the Royal South Hants, we will formally begin operating as the South of England Rehabilitation Centre; a specialist centre for all levels of rehabilitation care, co-located on one site. The Kite and Snowdon wards already at the Western Community Hospital provide multi-disciplinary rehabilitation services for people with a broad range of complex neurological and physical conditions, and the addition of two acute rehabilitation wards in the new building will create a specialist hub for people in and around Southampton and Hampshire.
Chief Medical Officer Dan Baylis said: “Delivering two new wards within the South of England Rehabilitation Centre will enable a truly high quality and therapeutic environment for patients to receive rehabilitative care. It is an incredible achievement and great outcome for the local and regional population. It’s been a team effort from day one, so to get to this point where patients are about to move in is testament to the excellent work of everyone involved.”
Brymor Managing Director Mike Smedley said: “It has been a joy to watch this project go from the demolition of an old ward to the new, three-storey hospital building we have before us today. Our close working relationship with the trust has been imperative in making this project such a success and we are delighted to be able to hand over something we are all very proud of.”
In the photo (L-R) are Contracts Manager John Clarke, Managing Director Mike Smedley and Senior Quality Surveyor Adam Pennell, all from Brymor, and Medical Director Dan Baylis, Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities Mark Young and Senior Project Manager Mark Maffey.