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Digitising modular A new Endoscopy Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn aims to be a flagship for digital innovation and modular construction. CM reports
he Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) King’s Lynn in Norfolk is undergoing a modernisation programme and digital construction is set to be at the heart of that. QEH was built as a RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) hospital in 1980. Today, 79% of the hospital buildings have RAAC planks which require ongoing monitoring and emergency repairs. In 2021, the organisation was awarded £20.6m in emergency funding, enabling it to install ‘failsafe’ roof supports, to reduce the risk of RAAC plank failures, and to undertake other modernisation projects. These
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include a new state-of-the-art endoscopy unit. The two-storey, 3,913 sq m development will modernise facilities and enable all endoscopies to take place in one building. The new unit will also free up space in the main hospital so the organisation can start installing the roof supports across the first floor. “The endoscopy unit’s development is critical to the overall programme delivery and therefore speed and simplicity are key,” explains Garry Fannon, director with the trust’s multi-disciplinary consultant Exi Group. “We took time to understand the challenges of the current physical
CGI of the modular endoscopy unit at QEH Ward layouts in the federated BIM model MEP clash resolution in Navisworks
estate and the time restraint inherent in the project. For these reasons, we decided a modular solution was the best option. Over 90% of the unit will use modern methods of construction (MMC).” Exi is also working with the trust to develop its digital capability. “The organisation recognises that its digital maturity is an area requiring investment and sees the new endoscopy unit as a vehicle to test and trial new innovations and technology,” Fannon says. “Digital working will complement the MMC approach. The project will be in line with the digital aspirations set out in the government’s 2019 health infrastructure plan (HIP)
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