Modular Building Solution for Hospital Trust

Chase Farm

The Danzer team has designed and installed an £85,000 modular building for Chase Farm Hospital Trust in Enfield, on behalf of client ARJ Construction. As a modular build the entire building has taken just 16 weeks from order to fit out and occupation and took Danzer just 8 weeks to deliver.

The new 180 m2 building provides dirty and clean decontamination rooms and will be used as a specialist decontamination space for cleaning and sterilizing endoscopy equipment.

Although Danzer has delivered and installed the building, ARJ will be carrying out all of the internal fit out work including linings, M&E c/w specialist equipment needed for cleaning and sterilizing surgical instruments to allow re-use and reduce the risk of cross infection

The previous facility used by the Trust for decontamination of instruments was unable to accommodate stringent new NHS guidelines for infection control; so the new building was commissioned to provide a stand alone, fit for purpose facility.

The National Decontamination Strategy Guidelines were issued following an NHS report and survey into infection control which found that many NHS buildings were in need of refurbishment or replacement.

The advice of the Department of Health was that the reprocessing of surgical instruments should be undertaken outside the clinical environment where possible and preferably in a central processing facility.

The strategy recommended the establishment of a limited number of Decontamination Units supplying clusters of Trusts, geographically zoned across the country. Six Trusts signed up to the Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and North London Decontamination Super Centre Collaborative. The six members of the collaboration were:

1. The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
2. Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust
3. North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
4. East & North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
5. Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
6. West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

We will watch with interest how these Trusts will also now respond to the recommendations.