Emergency Department Extension QEQM Hospital
HMY have been working with East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust to design an expansion to the existing Emergency Department. The £12M project will include a new ED entrance, reception and waiting area, new adult and children’s treatment areas and staff facilities all built within new extensions. The existing spaces will be remodelled to improve rapid assessment and treatment areas and resuscitation bays.
The challenge for the design team and contractor is to construct a two storey extension within an internal courtyard and provide the necessary site logistics area whilst maintaining services and managing the ongoing pressures of the pandemic. This has been achieved by careful phasing of the enabling works to relocate car parking and diversion of the ambulance access to create a contractors compound adjacent to the site.
Internally detailed phasing plans have been established which identify three distinct areas of work and their associated enabling works. This ensures the Emergency Department continues to function with capacity to meet with the winter pressures as there is no available decant space until new accommodation is built. The team also need to ensure that access to the key supporting departments for patients and staff is available at all times.
The front extension provides the opportunity of upgrading the public face of the hospital. An over-sailing roof provides shelter to the new ED entrance, creates a link to the main hospital entrance and external shelter to this exposed site. Planning approval was received in February 2022 and the project will proceed at pace for completion of all three phases in December 2023. HMY were appointed through the NHS SBS Construction Consultancy Framework and are also architects for a similar expansion at William Harvey Hospital, Ashford.
HMY undertook extensive consultation with staff, senior management and other stakeholders, Part of this process was to provide workshops using VR headsets to immerse themselves in new facilities to fully understand the proposals.
The interior design was developed in close consultation with the clinical team and designed to accommodated people living with dementia as well as visual impairment and providing full accessibility. The project was shortlisted for Better Building Healthcare Wards 2023 Best Interior Design - Refurbishment.
The QEQM Hospital, Margate, which delivers world-class clinical care facilities and services, has been announced as the Winner of the Public Sector Project in the RICS South East Regional Awards 2024.
