Live hospital facilities. New sterile services departments. Merit high quality execution.
Merit has delivered a number of projects for STERIS (formerly Synergy Health). These have included the design and fit out of new sterile services departments in two live hospital settings.
- Works at Grimsby were stopped periodically to suit the demands of a hospital that undertook regular eye operations.
- Works at Lincoln included design and construction of a new sterile services department.
- The primary role of each new sterile services department is the sterilisation of NHS operating theatre equipment.
Merit has been Principal Contractor for the construction for multiple new sterile service departments (SSD) on behalf of STERIS (formerly Synergy Healthcare) since 2010.
STERIS is a leading provider of outsourced and managed decontamination services for reprocessing surgical instruments, processing in excess of 80 million surgical instruments per year for Acute NHS Trusts.
Of the four SSDs completed so far, two were constructed within a live, operational environment.
STERIS Lincoln
Merit developed requirements into a detailed design for the turnkey construction of the new 1100m2 facility which was within an existing hospital building, converting the space used for the existing sterile services suite.
Scope
- Design and phased construction of the sterile areas, goods in/out, and communal areas.
- Design and phased construction to the main building, forming a new plant room to house electrical, mechanical and process equipment including washers and autoclaves.
- Design and phased construction of gowning, decontamination, sterilizing and packing clean rooms, ISO Class 8.
- Compliance with both STERIS and NHS design requirements.
- Phased installation validation and beneficial use of cleanroom works.
- Design and phased installation of all HVAC, mechanical, process and electrical services.
- Phased modifications and remedial works to the existing building including extensive floor and underground drainage modifications, roller shutter doors, windows and personnel doors.
- Procurement, management of specialist decontamination and sterilizer equipment installation subcontractors, installed and commissioning in parallel with the Cleanroom construction.
- Extensive engagement, collaboration and communication with hospital operations during all phases of the works both the maintain full production of the sterile suite at all times and in consideration of the 8 operating theatres located directly above.
The works had to be meticulously planned in four phases so as to ensure the continued functionality of the facility. Part of the existing facility was tented off and refurbished, then occupation was taken by the client before the next phase began. In this way, each functional process area (e.g washers, trolley washer, sterilizers) could be brought on line, and once proven, the old system could be stripped out and converted into the next functional area.
STERIS Grimsby
Merit developed requirements into a detailed design for the turnkey construction of the new 700m2 facility which was within an existing and operational hospital building.
Scope
- Design and construction of the ground floor sterile areas, goods in/out, and communal areas.
- Design and construction of an extension to the main building, forming a new plant room to house electrical, mechanical and process equipment.
- Design and construction of gowning, decontamination, sterilizing and packing clean rooms to ISO Class 8.
- Design and installation of all HVAC, mechanical, process and electrical services.
- Modifications and remedial works to the existing building including the installation of roller shutter doors, windows and personnel doors.
- Management of specialist decontamination and steriliser equipment installation subcontractors
- Validation and handover of cleanroom and process systems.
- Phase 1 of the project included enabling works and services installation, which were completed whilst the old decontamination suite remained live.
Phase 2 included strip out of the old area and building of the new facility whilst the decontamination work was undertaken at STERIS facility that Merit had just built. This was a logistical challenge, being some 70 miles apart, however, Merit achieved the phasing requirements and programme on time.