The ‘future-proof’ hospitals arriving in East Cheshire

HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, recently met up with Associate Director for Estates & Facilities at East Cheshire NHS Trust, Rob Few CEng, FIHEEM, to discuss an ambitious and far-reaching portfolio of refurbishment, new-build, and carbon and energy reduction measures currently in progress at Macclesfield District General Hospital and two smaller hospitals operated by the Trust. The investment required to put all of the work in hand is the largest the organisation has seen for a decade.

I met up with Rob Few, the East Cheshire NHS Trust’s Associate Director for Estates & Facilities, at the Estates office at Macclesfield District General Hospital in late March. There he enthusiastically talked me through the wide range of ongoing improvements to the Trust’s built estate, and a concerted carbon and energy reduction drive, both of which have been made possible by the Trust securing significant funding over the past year and half. A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of IHEEM with specialist ventilation expertise, Rob Few joined the Trust 10 years ago as Head of Estate Operations, progressing to become Associate Director of Estates & Facilities

Macclesfield District General Hospital, where he and his team are based, is the Trust’s largest hospital – a 48,000 m2 , 350-bedded acute healthcare facility that opened in 1983. The Trust also has two smaller hospitals – Congleton War Memorial Hospital – which provides specialist care for patients on Pathway 2 needing short-term rehabilitation or transition to their own home, and Knutsford and District Community Hospital – which offers a variety of outpatient services.