Refurbishing underutilised space and adjoining space to deliver broader healthcare services

Partners: HDS, Oander Limited and Hughes Escott

Local healthcare providers in Deal were under pressure to find clinical operational space to enable them to provide a broader selection of healthcare services to the local community in support of the NHS Long Term Plan.

In line with our strategy to help the NHS get the most from its estate, we identified underutilised space at Victoria Walmer and District War Memorial Hospital following the relocation of their minor injury unit as only a single wound clinic now operated within part of the space.

However, it was old and tired and therefore not suitable in its current state so we embarked on a refurbishment project as every patient should be cared for in a high quality environment that is fit for purpose.

In partnership with our NHS colleagues, we use our expertise to optimise existing properties. During stakeholder engagement, it was identified that whilst two wound treatment clinics were needed, the patients receiving treatment traditionally look forward to the appointment due to the social interaction with staff and other patients, as many live with limited social interaction.  

Therefore, we designed the space so that the staff had two treatment rooms, which instead of constructing a partition, were divided with a medical curtain but with separate lighting, workstations etc to ensure that should the dynamics and operational requirements change, the space can easily be converted into two rooms.

We worked closely with another stakeholder to incorporate dementia friendly colours. This resulted in the door frames being painted different colours, for example, bright colours were used to let those with dementia know that they are able to enter that room, whilst the likes of store cupboards received a darker shade to represent areas which are restricted and/or not accessible.

We proactively engaged with those working within the ward to explain the works, understand the operational requirements and to ensure that as a project, everyone was aware of each other’s requirements. This created a one-team approach which meant works did not disrupt the delivery of healthcare services within the hospital.

In addition to the wound clinic works, we took the opportunity to reconfigure the adjoining rooms and floor space to provide an additional treatment room and update current facilities.

We provided a new, modern wound clinic with two treatment rooms and additional ancillary support rooms, (clean and dirty utilities) and as a result of our additional works, there are now four refreshed and refurbished clinical rooms.

The ultimate result is there are additional rooms readily available to be booked and used by healthcare professionals so they can provide excellent patient care and subsequently providing a broader selection of healthcare services to the Deal community within one hospital hub, which is a key focus of the NHS Long Term Plan..

During the six week programme of works, the workforce utilised the League of Friends canteen, which saw their takings for that period exponentially increase by 300%.