MTX complete elective orthopaedic operating theatres at Kent and Canterbury Hospital

Published: 16-Sep-2021

Wilmslow-based MMC specialist MTX provided Kent and Canterbury Hospital with a new state of the art theatre development and additional works

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust had scope to extend their current operating services and provide further operating theatres to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital site.

In order to proceed with the delivery of the new 4 orthopaedic operating theatres, MTX first had to carry out the construction of a new medical physics building, the asbestos removal and full demolition works of an existing office block and the refurbishment of a full day care surgery department.

The new theatre complex links directly into the hospital’s current ward department and in close proximity to the recently completed day care surgery.

The single storey facility houses the four orthopaedic operating theatres each with dedicated prep and anaesthetic, a bright and spacious reception and waiting area, eight bed recovery bay, offices, theatre store, staff rest and all necessary ancillary.

A dedicated top floor plant room was provided to support the whole scheme. Each of the four theatres are equipped with 3m MAT ultra clean canopies, with integrated multi-movement pendants. The integrated pendants allowed MTX to maximise the size of the canopy, whilst ensuring that all four theatres fit within the site constraints.

To provide a high level of resilience, four dedicated duplex pumps were provided, as well as a triplex vacuum and triplex surgical air plant, with duplex filters.

The building was completely and mechanically ventilated and the design included 5 AHUs; 1 for each theatre and 1 for the recovery and ancillary space, and the modification of the existing system to refeed some of the refurbished areas. The project was accelerated by prefabricating elements of the build, including pump skids.

The modules for the scheme were constructed on top of a cast in situ ground floor slab, ensuring compliance with the structural response factor. The slab was power floated to the highest level of accuracy (SR1), to ensure a perfect finish.

The day surgery refurbishment works had to be carried out within a strict timescale when the building was free of patients and staff. Therefore works in this area were carried out after hours and on weekends.

The project team were also working to an extremely tight programme and in order to achieve the required handover date, MTX’s site remained operational seven days a week.

From this project MTX also learnt that the integrating pendants within the canopies allows you to fit bigger canopies into a small room and reduces the risk of clashes with other services when installing on site.

The MTX project team built a strong relationship with the client and ensured that client satisfaction was achieved, both aesthetically and in terms of practicality.

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