Static Systems has successfully completed a site-wide fire alarm upgrade and new system installation at Wexham Park Hospital, a 588-bedded acute NHS hospital near Slough managed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust.
As well as the main hospital building, the site has a large Post Graduate building, ambulance station, and staff accommodation, while a new 9,300 m2 four-storey Emergency Assessment Centre (EAC), currently under construction, and scheduled for completion by late 2018, will bring the hospital’s emergency department, ambulatory care, and assessment units together under one roof.
In February, following a competitive tender, Static Systems Group was awarded a major contract to undertake a phased upgrade of the hospital’s existing site-wide fire alarm to bring the system up to a category L1 open protocol system. It was also tasked with installing fire alarm systems in the new Emergency Assessment Centre and Radiology & X-ray Department. All upgrade work had to be undertaken in a live, fully occupied hospital environment and, at the time of installation, the Emergency Department and Radiology & X-ray Department were construction zones.
Static Systems has a long-standing relationship with the Trust, and before the project commenced, took part in the early design and development discussions to explore options and identify how best to meet the Trust’s requirements. The Static Systems team surveyed the whole site before producing the design in conjunction with the Capital Projects team and the Trust’s Fire Safety Officer. As principal contractor, Static Systems provided a site-based project management team and managed the entire design, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning, of its Evo2 fire alarm panels and Apollo fire detection equipment. In total, 15 wards were upgraded, with 14 fire alarm panels and 14 fire alarm repeater panels installed.
Greg Forsythe, project manager at Static Systems, said: “This project required us to work across a host of different live settings, from Intensive Care, Sterile Services, and Radiology, to the mortuary and canteen. Our primary focus is delivering a seamless installation with minimal disruption to the clinical teams’ everyday workings. We thus introduced a robust process for communicating information about the works to all relevant parties through the Capital Projects team, providing five working days’ notice of our intent to work in each area of the hospital.”
Geoff Irish, the Trust’s senior project manager, added: “We had no hesitation in appointing Static Systems as our principal contractor for this project. Static has worked in the industry for over 35 years, and we have been consistently impressed with its turnkey approach – from design and product offering through to installation and aftersales support. Having Greg as our dedicated project manager, along with the rest of the on-site project team, has made the whole process very straightforward and seamless.”
