The Royal Oldham ￡28 million extension opens to patients

Jon Nickson, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) programme director for the Hulton building, gives an update on the new building a month after the doors open to patients and service users.??

The journey??

In February, we hit a huge milestone for The Royal Oldham Hospital when we opened the Hulton Building. The extension for NCA’s Oldham site has been in planning since 2015 and under construction since January 2022. The new building is a Greater Manchester hub site for patients needing general emergency and colorectal care.?

The aim of the programme was to address geographical variations in acute care and outcomes for patients across Greater Manchester (GM) for three different hospital services – accident and emergency, acute medicine and general surgery.? It was decided to consolidate general surgery activity across four areas in Greater Manchester (Bury, Rochdale, Oldham and North Manchester) with The Royal Oldham Hospital being identified as the location.??

Like many construction programmes taking place in this period, the pandemic did slow down our plans a little with the start of construction being delayed.??

The scheme cost a total of ￡28m. It sounds like a huge amount of money, doesn’t it??Let’s be honest – it is! However, building a hospital site is a lot more complex than putting an extension on your house. There’s specific guidance that we need to adhere to in order to keep patients and colleagues safe, take ventilation as an example. Different types of rooms need different numbers of air changes per hour to make sure we manage infection effectively. So, if you’re in a ward, the air has to be changed six times per hour, but if you’re in a theatre it’s got to be changed 22 times per hour. All the equipment that’s needed to do that is very, very pricey.?

A look inside?

The building has been cleverly designed by our colleagues at Day Architectural. It uses what’s called a template design – so each ward floor is exactly the same. Every patient space has plenty of natural light, which is really important in aiding recovery, especially after surgery.? We have a dedicated staff area so colleagues can relax and take some well-deserved time out when they are on a break and, of course, the building is kitted out with all the latest equipment – all mod cons!?

The design of the building has had the input of service users and colleagues as it was important that we got it right for those who will be using the building. We introduced small and subtle modifications that will make a difference to the patient experience. For example, the bathrooms are fitted with full length mirrors, and we have added a shelf for patients to place items when they freshen up.? The nurses’ station on each ward is positioned so that each patient can be seen at all times and there are no blind spots.??

The move?

The move in could not have been smoother. The clinical teams all knew exactly what they needed to do. For me, it was one of the best planned and best delivered projects I have been involved with in my time with the NCA, and actually in my entire career. It really is testament to the effort that the entire team put in over the last few months that it went so well.?

Feedback from patients??

Patients were transferred from exiting wards at the hospital to the extension and the feedback has been really positive.?One thing that will stick with me for a long time was hearing a patient saying that they felt like they’ve been moved from the NHS to a private hospital. I think that really underlines exactly the effort that has been put in to make this project work.?

The most important thing, of course, is how it impacts on care for patients. The building gives patients more space than they would find on our existing wards. There is a lot of single rooms, which supports with privacy and dignity.??

What's next?

The Hulton Building has been designed so it can easily be expanded…so, watch this space!?