£18 million makeover for Epsom and St Helier
A whopping £18 million has been set aside to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and improve the buildings at Epsom and St Helier hospitals this year – that’s almost double the usual annual investment and the highest amount in a 12-month period since the hospitals were built.
The multi-million cash injection, which is funded by the trust’s annual capital development programme, will have benefits across the hospitals – from major refurbishments of wards, clinics and other patient areas, to upgrades taking place behind the scenes, such as significant improvements to our computer systems.
Director of Estates and Capital Projects Trevor Fitzgerald said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce such a large investment in our hospitals, and are pleased to say that many of the improvement works are already underway.
“The vast majority of the £18 million will be spent on improving the areas where our patients are cared for, including a £150,000 refurbishment of the Acute Medical Unit at Epsom and a £700,000 overhaul of two wards at St Helier. We’ll also be creating a new x-ray screening room costing £200,000 and investing £100,000 on new dialysis machines and specially designed chairs.
“There will also be some major projects going on that will be difficult to miss – including spending more than £3 million on cladding the outside of both Epsom and St Helier. Not only will this improve the way our hospitals look, but it will also protect the buildings from bad weather. We’re also going to be installing more double glazing in patient areas too, making it easier for us to keep our wards at the right temperature for our patients, as well as keeping our carbon footprint to a minimum.
“Significant building work is already happening at St Helier, as our teams work hard to create a brand new Eye Unit at St Helier worth £1.5 million – and that’s on top of the new unit at Epsom, which opened in March.
“We are also delighted to announce that we are creating a new embryology laboratory, bringing a service back to the trust. This will make a very real difference to local people who want to access assisted conception services.
“But this capital development programme is also about the smaller touches. We’re painting our main corridors and refreshing waiting rooms and want our patients, staff and visitors to be really proud of the improvements we’re making. In fact, that’s exactly why we recently asked people to tell us which colour they preferred before we began painting the main corridor of Ferguson House at St Helier.
“We’ll be making further announcements as the different projects begin and are completed, so please keep an eye out on our website for further details. This is a really exciting time for our hospitals. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience but we can assure patients and relatives that we will try to keep any disruption to an absolute minimum.”
Other projects that will be undertaken include:
- • £500,000 on the total refurbishment of the coronary care unit at St Helier
- • £150,000 on the second phase of the refurbishment of Beacon Ward in renal
- • £90,000 on new software for our endoscopy equipment
- • £75,000 on the redesign and reconfiguration of the A&E department at Epsom, to allow for the care of rising number of patients
- • £50,000 on two new incubators.
