The contractor has now handed over the keys for the National Rehabilitation Centre to the Trust, which is now preparing for patients.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has been in the process of building the country’s first National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) since the project got the green light back in September 2023.
At this time, the government approved funding of the £105m plans through the New Hospital Programme.
The NRC is a 70-bed state-of-the-art specialist rehabilitation centre for NHS patients who have experienced a life-changing illness or injury.
Military patients are a key demographic for this new facility. Headley Court in Surrey closed as a military medical rehabilitation centre in September 2018, with its services relocating to Stanford Hall in Nottinghamshire (now home to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre and the National Rehabilitation Centre)
As of now, NUH can commence preparations to move the first patients into the facility in the first week of September.
As NUH's fourth hospital site, this brand-new facility is co-located with the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate (SHRE) near Loughborough.
The partnership between the two buildings enable patients at the NRC to attend the DMRC facility to utilise their facilities such as their full hydrotherapy suite, an advanced gait lab and a high-tech virtual reality rehabilitation suite.
The collaboration also opens the door for staff across both sites to share vital learning in order to advance clinical rehabilitation understanding on a Defence, national and international basis.
Since the partnership was always the plan during deisgn, the DMRC and the NRC were designed so that expensive facilities, such as hydrotherapy pools, were not duplicated.
Water quality issues resolved
Building contractor, Integrated Health Partnerships (IHP) (The joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine), has worked over recent months to resolve the issue with the water quality in the building.
As a result, 183 mixer taps throughout the building have been replaced, work has been carried out to stabilise the temperature in the hot water system, and a chlorine dioxide unit has been installed to prevent any future issues should water temperatures fluctuate.
Final remedial work and validation testing was needed on this before handover of the facility to the Trust.
Specialists brought in for energy efficiency and digital construction
Both IHP and NUH brought on other expert companies to assist with specialist services.
IHP used the Buildots platform to compare 360° site imagery against the project's planned BIM model and schedule to generate an accurate view of planned vs actual progress at the new hospital programme build.
NUH engaged with Schneider Electric to improve energy efficiency, by delivering digital building and bedside technologies to improve patient experience.
The Trust has also engaged Airwave Healthcare to provide integrated bedside technology.
Moving patients in
A five-week remobilisation period has now commenced to prepare to receive first patients at the NRC in the first week of September.
Miriam Duffy, NRC Director, said: “We are delighted to finally receive the keys to the National Rehabilitation Centre after months of work with IHP to resolve the stubborn water quality issues in order for us to safely receive our first patients.
“Whilst there is still important work to do before we welcome our first patients, receiving the keys allows us to begin the final preparations to bring the building to life. Over the coming weeks, our teams will be working closely together to ensure every aspect of the centre is ready to provide outstanding patient rehabilitation from day one.
“We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved so far and look forward to opening our doors and realising the vision of the National Rehabilitation Centre as a leading centre of excellence for rehabilitation, innovation, education and research.”
