A topping-out ceremony has been held, marking a key milestone in the development of a £32.8m new women and children’s unit at the Royal Oldham Hospital.
The event took place on the roof-top garden of the five-storey building, marking the completion of the highest point of the new facility.
Developed by Vinci Construction, the unit will include a paediatric theatre, two obstetric theatres, delivery suites, post natal wards, a gynaecology outpatients centre, an endoscopy unit, paediatric day and case wards, an A&E observation unit, surgical triage and a 30-bed assessment unit.
Today marks a key milestone in the construction of the hospital, as now that we have completed the roof of the new department, the project is coming into the final stage of completion
The project also includes the refurbishment of 2,700sq m of existing first-floor wards incorporating an ante-natal clinic and day case wards, a gynaecological assessment unit, early pregnancy unit with overnight stay, and a midwife-led unit.
Vincent Boodeea, senior project manager at Vinci Construction UK’s Northern building division, said: “Today marks a key milestone in the construction of the hospital, as now that we have completed the roof of the new department, the project is coming into the final stage of completion. Our aim has been to construct a facility that offers Greater Manchester the highest standard of healthcare and we are confident the new department will serve the trust and local community well.”
Mark Thomas, Vinci’s regional director, added: “Today is a very exciting day and it is great to see the excellent progress on this project. The new building will serve as a modern and cutting-edge healthcare facility that will stand to serve the local communities of Oldham for many years to come.”
The new building will serve as a modern and cutting-edge healthcare facility that will stand to serve the local communities of Oldham for many years to come
The Royal Oldham Hospital is the fourth project the contractor has undertaken for The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
Sola Amu, the trust’s clinical director and consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, said: “This fantastic new purpose-built development at Oldham is the end point of many decades of carefully-thought-through improvements of maternity, paediatric and neonatal services across Greater Manchester. It is the ultimate outcome of the process of the Making it Better programme. With this development we will see significant improvements in the quality of care and facilities for women and children.”
