Modular construction has an increasingly vital place within the health sector in the UK. With the Government “Construction Playbook” also backing modular construction, there are huge opportunities for the sector.
The speed with which high quality modular buildings can be constructed is one of the main reasons for their popularity within the health sector. Speed is absolutely of the essence for a sector consistently under pressure to expand its services.
The Government is fully behind modular construction for healthcare
Recently, the UK Government announced that more than 50 new ‘surgical hubs’ will eventually be delivered across the country .
There are currently 91 of these modular hubs already being used by the NHS to try to bring down waiting lists that have backed up since COVID-19 disrupted the UK. Surgical hubs are just one type of modular building that the health sector is using to mitigate waiting lists, backed up services and lack of space.
Modular buildings play a crucial role in long term resilience planning for the NHS, as we saw in many cases during the pandemic. Now, however, they’re a major part of the plans to specifically tackle the elective care waiting lists.
This effectively separates emergency care and elective care, which helps to properly manage procedures while minimising disruption that future surges of COVID-19 may cause.
Benefits of modular construction for healthcare
The surgical hubs are standalone modular blocks that greatly help to reduce the massive backlog currently facing the UK’s health services.
Modular buildings can be built and implemented on site very quickly compared with traditional building projects. They can also be situated somewhere away from the emergency care or main hospital or health centre facilities and can be installed on pretty much any type of land that’s spare on site.
This speed is the crucial benefit for health services under great strain, and of course, modular buildings can be easily shifted to different sites if necessary. For the NHS in particular, this is a significant benefit as NHS Trusts work together to cover care where it’s needed most.
Thurston Group offer flexible solutions for healthcare
Modular buildings don’t just work on a cost benefit level, or to improve patient access to services, however. They can also take the strain off NHS staff, who have been working under immense pressure since COVID-19 arrived.
There has been plenty of media coverage of the stress the NHS workforce is under, and the shortages in staff numbers. Modular buildings can be designed as staff welfare spaces, as well as extra office, ward or surgery space as and when needed.
At Thurston, we have total control over manufacturing and design, which means we can be flexible with design and on-site management. Modular healthcare buildings can be delivered in half the time as traditional techniques – something that the NHS and healthcare is particularly interested in.
We build 90% of the solutions in our UK-based factories and then install them directly on-site, fully equipped and ready to use. All of this greatly reduces any potential disruption to the health centre or hospital, which has obvious benefits for patients and people using the services.
Fast turnaround on fully equipped modular buildings
Our turnkey solution for healthcare modular construction means we can had over the buildings absolutely ready to go. We can also offer a vast range of internal design features specific to different healthcare needs, covering all of the hygiene control standards necessary.
Bed-head services are installed, including medical gas dispensers, communication systems and entertainment systems for the patients. Thurston’s galvanised modular system is guaranteed for up to six decades of use and is BBA approved.
All of our buildings also have the requisite floor strength for compliance purposes, and all relevant Health Technical Memorandums (HTM) and Health Building Notices (HBN) are covered as standard.
Use cases for modular buildings within healthcare
As you can see, the modular buildings we construct and supply for healthcare can be tailored to the many different use cases. They can be fully customised based on the client’s specific needs, but also to their specific timescale – we fully understand the need for a speedy yet high quality service throughout.
There are many different applications within healthcare for modular buildings including (but not limited to):
- Operating Theatres.
- Ward accommodation.
- Laboratories.
- Clean Rooms.
- Bed Storage.
- Urgent Care Units.
- Outpatient and Ambulatory care.
- MRI & CT scanning facilities.
- Data centres.
- Pharmacies.
- Mortuaries.
- Office space.
- Welfare space for staff.
- Changing rooms and showers.
- Equipment cleaning stations.
During our 50+ years in modular construction, we have worked with clients across the healthcare sector. These include private clinics and NHS Trusts and, as with all of our projects, is a turnkey solution from consultation and design all the way through to installation.
Thurston has designed, built and installed temporary and permanent healthcare facilities all across the country. Recent clients include Public Health England, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Tameside & Glossop NHS Trust, and The University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust among many others.
We have also manufactured a significant number of testing and vaccination units specifically for COVID-19. Our expert knowledge of the healthcare sector underpins the whole process of manufacturing and installing modular solutions.
To help with procurement, we are also fully approved via the NHS Shared Business Services, Modular Building framework meaning we have a range of pre-designed and costed building solutions that you can award quickly.