Keys handed over for MRI and eye hospitals
WORK has completed on the new Manchester Royal Infirmary and the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, which today will be officially handed over to the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Their handover marks the last major phase of the four year, £500m Central Manchester Hospitals development.
The new MRI was partly completed in 2007 and the new wing brings facilities for haematology, renal and acute medicines.
Built by Bovis Lend Lease, it includes purpose-built isolation rooms for renal patients and the facility for in-patients to receive dialysis treatment on their ward. The number of beds in haematology will increase from 18 to 22 and will benefit from a new spinal treatment room and improved isolation facilities.
The new two-storey Manchester Royal Eye Hospital will provide services from a single site close to the city centre, whereas previously patients had to visit three separate sites across Manchester.
It will include 24 examination, five laser treatment and two ultrasound rooms. The ophthalmic ward will house nine single rooms, together with an isolation room, a four-bedded area and consulting and treatment rooms. The day case unit will include six examination, three interview and a number of specialist treatment rooms.
Catalyst Healthcare (Manchester) is the private finance initiative consortium managing the project.
Roger Potts, general manager at Catalyst Healthcare in Manchester, said: “Working with our construction partner, Bovis Lend Lease, we have completed and delivered four brand new hospitals in less than two months.
“This handover marks another milestone for the upgrade of Manchester’s vital healthcare resources. Our city now has a suite of the most modern hospitals in the UK, with spacious, attractive and well designed buildings offering the latest treatments and care to both adults and children across the North West.”
With four hospitals, Manchester’s new healthcare development covers a total area of over 265,000 sq m, nearly twice the size of the Trafford Centre. The new hospitals will open their doors to patients on July 11 for the MRI and August 8, for the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
