Queen’s Hospital in Romford has been boosted by the opening of a new £7.5 m Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) – designed to help manage critical care demand, and named ‘Jubilee ITU’ in honour of the Queen’s 70-year reign.
The Jubilee ITU is part of an £11.5 m investment to upgrade and expand critical care departments managed by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), including a £4 m investment at King George Hospital in Goodmayes, with work set to finish by late March. BHRUT chair, Jacqui Smith, said: “Our new Jubilee ITU will help us treat our sickest patients in a state-of-the-art environment, playing a key role as we continue to reduce surgical waiting lists as the increase in beds provides flexibility to treat people who have been waiting for operations faster.”
Key features include the addition of 15 beds, with flexibility to increase to 25 during busy winter months, and bright and airy space ‘to provide a peaceful environment for staff and patients to help aid recovery’. A previous storage area was transformed to create the modern facility, while an air-handling unit was also craned into position to provide sophisticated ventilation.
Ingleton Wood, a property and construction consultancy, provided architectural, mechanical and electrical engineering, and project management services. Paul Cavalier, a Partner at the firm, said: “We were pleased to support the Jubilee ITU. which will save more lives and provide patients with cutting-edge equipment in a modern environment for generations to come.” Ingleton Wood is among the East of England’s largest property and construction consultancies. Its services include architecture, building surveying, building services engineering, planning, interior design, civil and structural engineering, quantity surveying, project management, and health and safety.
