Temporary modular accommodation for healthcare centres

[edit] Route to tackle RAAC challenges

A modular building solutions brand, is encouraging hospital trusts requiring temporary healthcare facilities to consider the benefits of modular building hire. The call follows from a report highlighting issues with healthcare building roofs constructed in the 1960s and 70s using RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete). A report by NCE (New Civil Engineer) identified that NHS trusts across the country need hundreds of millions of pounds to remediate dangerous roofs made from RAAC, an aerated concrete that is susceptible to moisture ingress.

A series of freedom of information (FoI) requests submitted by NCE has revealed that five of the worst affected trusts have applied for £331.9M of additional funding to be spent on fixing RAAC planks during the next three years. The challenge for hospitals is how to continue providing seamless care whilst major RAAC remediation work is carried out. The company has already received enquiries from healthcare providers seeking temporary modular buildings for hire to accommodate patients and service users during the works and is now setting about raising awareness of modular building hire benefits with all healthcare trusts.

The advantages of choosing temporary modular buildings during RAAC maintenance works include being able to move into a turnkey temporary facility much quicker than a conventional on-site build. As a hire solution, the modular buildings can be financed from operational expenditure rather than capex, which means no major capital funding process delays.

Temporary modular accommodation also offers healthcare providers the ability to upsize or downsize as their requirements change, whilst giving them the flexibility to choose hire only, or purchase. The company is currently involved in an RAAC project that requires a large, temporary two storey building to relocate the hospital FM team and pharmacy along with a small pathology lab building. This building will deliver high quality office facilities while remediation work is carried out on the hospital site.

Other temporary healthcare buildings for hire include HTM/HBN compliant ward accommodation, post procedure / step down wards, administration buildings, GP services (including GP streaming buildings), occupational health units, patient assessment units, laboratories, consulting rooms, pharmacy units, WC facilities plus many others. For space-constrained sites, buildings three or four storeys tall are possible, along with more creative solutions, like putting modular buildings on roofs of existing traditional structures.

Ricky Barford, Sales Director at Algeco Modular Hire, said: “There are many benefits to choosing modular buildings for hire when looking for temporary accommodation that covers RAAC upgrade works. We provide a wide range of decant modular hire solutions where healthcare buildings undergo refurbishment and require temporary accommodation until works are completed. Our full turnkey service means everything can be included, ready for immediate occupation.”

Algeco has a long track record of supplying both temporary modular buildings for hire and permanent offsite buildings into the healthcare sector.

An example of how Algeco modular buildings align with the needs of healthcare providers was demonstrated recently at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The company supplied a new modular facility that will help reduce numbers of patients waiting unnecessarily in a busy Emergency Department.

The modular building solution provides a long-term facility on site at James Paget University hospital for use as a GP streaming building. It is used as a first point of contact for visitors to the busy A&E department to offer triage and reduce pressure on waiting times. Although supplied as a long-term project, Algeco offers flexible hire options, providing hospitals looking for temporary buildings with greater flexibility when carrying out RAAC works.

In terms of offsite permanent buildings, from individual wards to complete hospitals, offsite Solutions provides experts in creating inspiring £multi-million buildings manufactured to HTM, HBN, SHTM and WHM standards. Algeco is an approved supplier to most major procurement frameworks, such as NHS SBS Modular Buildings Framework, Crown Commercial Services Framework RM6014, Fusion 21 Modular Buildings Framework, LHC MB2 Framework for Modular Buildings and ESPO.

Article was provided via press release dated October 17 and originated from Algeco modular building hire solutions. www.algeco.co.uk/temporary/sectors/healthcare

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