Published date: 22 May 2020
Refurbishing a health centre to accommodate a COVID-19 hot clinic, run by four surgery groups
Background
Background
- Site: NHSPS owned health centre, serving a large and deprived area of Cornwall.
- Customers/stakeholders: Manor GP surgery, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- NHSPS representatives: Patrick Keeble, Senior Property Manager; Simon Waters, Senior Facilities Services Manager; Graham Kennell, Technical Services Supervisor
The challenge
NHSPS was first approached by nearby Manor GP surgery, who were seeking accommodation to see patients in a safe location, away from their premises.
We had space in Redruth Health Centre, but it would require significant refurbishment to make it fit for purpose, with a quick turnaround time.
The solution
Property and Facilities Management teams worked together to refurbish the three rooms required.
This involved stripping out old cupboards, units, sinks and floor coverings, and then running a full redecoration, installing clinical compliant sinks and floor coverings.
As the pandemic progressed, it became clear the entire site would need to be turned into a hot clinic, and so we facilitated the move of other occupants (Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust) and a refurbishment of the entire centre.
The impact
In the space of four weeks we have transformed Redruth Health Centre, which is now fit to be a central hot clinic for the region. Four surgery groups will run the facility, in an environment as safe as it can be for staff whilst preserving their original premises to continue core essential services in a lower risk environment.
This will serve 16,000 patients at first, and in the coming weeks we will have capacity to upscale to a population of 60,000 if needed, in a particularly deprived area of Cornwall.
Customer feedback
"I cannot thank the team enough for the commitment and energy they applied in getting this project off the ground and completed in such a short time frame. No ask was too great, all our requirements were met, we were happy to take advice as it was offered and as of this week, we are now occupying the rejuvenated building and trialling our new Covid-19 assessment service."
Dr Tamsin Craze, Manor GP Surgery
We recommissioned and reconfigured space across our estate during COVID-19 to provide additional capacity for treatment and testing, delivering space for over 1,000 beds. See our infographic for more information.
