The £87m centre will replace the oldest operating theatres still in use in England with eight new operating theatres, six endoscopy rooms and a critical care unit with 22 beds.
Kier is already on site carrying out enabling works and will start construction of the first phase of the works, the sterile services department, in February 2021. Development of the surgical centre itself will start in 2022.
Kier is also building a new acute assessment hub at the hospital as part of the Musgrove 2030 plan to transform the hospital’s estate.
Anthony Irving, managing director of Kier Regional Building Western & Wales, said the contractor had been working on the scheme with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to develop the scheme for the past two years.
Dr Daniel Meron, chief medical officer at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Musgrove Park Hospital, said that he expects the new centre to be open for patients in 2024.
Nick Fairham, principal at architect BDP, has been carrying out design work for the Musgrove 2030 modernisation programme since it began, including the hospital’s Jubilee Building which opened in 2014. He said: “In line with the wider modernisation and transformation of Musgrove Park Hospital, patient, staff and visitor experience is at the heart of the new surgical centre’s design. This includes everything from creating high dependency and recovery space immediately adjacent to the theatres so that patients remain within the care of their specialist team after their surgery, to maximising opportunity for daylight and views of the gardens. The centre will be connected to both the Concourse and Jubilee buildings by glazed links overlooking landscaped and planted courtyards helping patients to move from one area to another, enabling easy access for visitors and improving efficiency for staff.”
Kier’s contract was procured through the Department for Health & Social Care’s P22 framework.
Kier is also working on a £98m building project programme at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot and a £97.1m scheme for Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham.
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