Lister Hospital ambulance bay handed over
SJD has just completed another healthcare project with Parias Construction and Interiors, this time at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
The hospital serves 600,000 people in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and the Accident & Emergency Department has undergone a £19m major redevelopment in recent years, trebling its size.
The department sees around 135,000 patients each year and with 600 people or more using the department each day, the hospital wanted to increase the number of beds in the ambulance bay to make it more efficient.
Delivered in two phases, a former seminar room, staff changing and toilet area were converted to make space for the new ambulance bay. This enabled the staff to decant the existing ambulance bay into the new space, with a week to make the move and familiarise themselves with the new surroundings. Once emptied, the existing ambulance way ward was then stripped out ready for the electrical installation.
Lighting and emergency systems
The project included provision of advanced lighting and emergency systems including high-efficiency lighting, using JCC Skytile LED panels with DALI 2 dimmable drivers throughout the clinical areas. Safety-first emergency lighting has also been provided with self-test emergency lighting systems, including EscapeLUX emergency downlights with lithium batteries to ensure constant illumination in the event of power failure.
The work also included the disconnection, retention, and reconnection of existing corridor lighting, ensuring they were re-fed and integrated into new distribution boards.
Clinical areas
In the clinical areas, the team has provided specialised bedhead units for the handover bays and isolation rooms, all equipped with medical gas points, power outlets, lighting controls, and nurse call points.
To ensure a failsafe supply, each bedhead was wired with four twin switched socket outlets with two fed from essential distribution boards, for life-critical equipment, and two from non-essential distribution boards.
To support the hospital’s hygiene standards, the team has used antibacterial dado trunking for power and data delivery in clinical zones, and all power wiring has used low-smoke zero-halogen (LSZH) single-core wire, with specific 4mm² cabling for power circuits, as requested by the hospital.
Working in a live hospital setting required close co-ordination with the hospital’s estates department ensuring the SJD team had access to all the required areas, without affecting the day to day running of the department.
The team, led by site supervisor Tara Warner, made sure that noise and disruption were kept to a minimum especially during the department’s busiest periods, and that hospital estates staff were kept up to date with progress.
She explained: “We have lots of experience working in hospitals and we’re used to engaging with the estates teams on our projects to ensure the smooth running of the contract. Liaison is key to being one step ahead of any unexpected issues and making sure that we don’t impinge on the services the hospital offers.”
Richard Harrison, senior contracts manager at SJD said: “The Lister hospital estates team were keen to bring to my attention the close relationships Tara had built with their staff, and this was crucial to the success of this project. Their feedback praised the high-quality installation we undertook.”
Enhanced communications for better outcomes
Other work at the hospital included adapting and extending the existing nurse call system containment routes to cover the new handover bays (1–7), side rooms, and staff bases.
To enhance rapid communications, the team has installed nurse call panels, over-door status lights, and call points integrated directly into the bedhead trunking for immediate patient-to-staff communication and to help hospital staff, existing control panels have been relocated to better positions above resuscitation trolleys to streamline emergency workflows.
Infrastructure upgrades
In order to power the new installations, the team has significantly upgraded the electrical capacity at the hospital by installing a new 200A TPN (Three Phase and Neutral) MCCB panel board and run a dedicated 200A submain supply cable from the basement LV panel up to the roof plant room.
External supplies have been enhanced by providing 100A TPN power supplies to support external Static Decontamination Units and a two-storey modular office building.
SJD’s design team engineered an extensive roof-mounted containment system using 300mm and 450mm ladder racks mounted on ‘big foot’ supports, providing secure cable routing across the hospital roof.
Security, safety and mechanical support
Other aspects of the project included integrated access control containment and power for electronic magnetic locks, card readers, and emergency break-glass release buttons in lobbies and wards. For building safety, SJD has also installed power supplies and containment for the hospital’s fire alarm system and smoke/fire dampers, and provided supplies for ceiling-mounted radiant heaters, mechanical plant, and specialised medical equipment such as macerators.
To complete the 16-week project, SJD installed back boxes and containment for high-speed data points throughout the project area.
SJD has a wide portfolio of healthcare projects in both the public and private sectors due to a deep understanding of the need to work to high standards, while ensuring critical services for patients aren’t compromised. Find out about some of our other projects here.
