Yorkon News Archives

25/06/2003 – Yorkon completes new paediatric department and endoscopy unit at old church hospital in just 7 months

Modular building specialist and Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, has completed construction of a new paediatric department and endoscopy unit at Old Church Hospital in Romford, in just seven months.

The new two-storey Jubilee Centre was designed and built by Yorkon in a £2.5m contract for Barking Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust. It was required by the Trust to create a centralised and enhanced paediatrics facility in a more desirable location on the hospital site. The new endoscopy unit has enlarged and updated the hospital's facilities, with a positive impact on patient waiting times – the target being to double patient throughput once the necessary staffing levels are in place.

Because the building was manufactured off-site in York whilst the foundations were completed on site in Romford, the Trust succeeded in reducing the programme time for the new facility by around four months. Site operations were minimised so disruption to patient care was far less than traditional construction would have been. Yorkon also scheduled delivery and cranage of the modules for out-of-hours to further reduce the impact on the running of the hospital.

Commenting on the project, Peter Harris, Capital Projects Manager at Barking Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust, said, "A fast track programme for the project was critical to allow the building to be up and running as quickly as possible to the benefit of our patients. We also wanted a short construction programme because the new facility is located in the heart of the hospital, so it was essential to keep disruption to an absolute minimum."

"Yorkon provided the most competitive tender and could meet our imposed deadline for the project. We also felt that their building system would more readily achieve compliance with NHS Estates guidelines, given their extensive experience in the health sector."

He concluded, "Yorkon delivered the new building on time and to budget, and we have had favourable comments from both staff and patients since its completion. The children's ward is bright and colourful, the waiting rooms are light and open, and the clinical rooms are much more spacious – a substantial improvement on the previous accommodation."

The paediatrics department now has 18 in-patient beds, a 7-bed ambulatory care unit, outpatients suite and a central courtyard play area. The endoscopy unit on the first floor comprises four comfort-cooled treatment rooms, sterilising unit, clean rooms, 13-bay recovery room, discharge lounge, colarectal suite, reception and offices.

Editor's Notes

1. Project details:

Programme time: 7 months (including enabling works)
Contract value: £2.5m
Number of modules: 74
First floor (endoscopy):
- comfort cooled endoscopy treatment rooms
- sterilising unit
- clean rooms
- 3-bay recovery room
- discharge lounge
- reception and waiting area
- colarectal suite
- centralised consultant/secretarial support
Ground floor (paediatrics):
- 18-bed in-patient wards (6 single rooms and 3 4-bay wards)
- 7-bed ambulatory care unit
- outpatient consulting suite
- centralised consultant/secretarial support
- bed lift
- central courtyard play area

2. Yorkon's award-winning modular building system is an efficient alternative to traditional site-based construction, which saves time, guarantees quality and minimises disruption to existing operations.

3. Modular building involves the manufacture of steel-framed modules in a factory environment, using production line technology, whilst the foundation works are completed on site. The modules are delivered to site by road where they are craned into position in just a few days