A new outpatient facility is being created at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport by MTX Contracts using advanced modern methods of construction – which the construction company says ‘support the long-term sustainability plans’ of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
The hospital is one of only four specialist hub centres for emergency and high-risk general surgery in Greater Manchester. The aim of the new facilities is to modernise the Outpatients Department and ensure the best care for around half a million patients that use Stepping Hill Hospital annually.
The new building’s ground and first floor will house the new Outpatients Department, and will incorporate multiple consulting rooms and a small number of dental treatment and procedure rooms, waiting areas, and toilets. The second floor has a smaller footprint area for a plant and ancillary equipment.
MTX said: “The £24.3 m project is using advanced modern methods of construction (MMC) shown to produce up to 45% less carbon emissions than more traditional building solutions, while maintaining the highest quality build. Using structural steel modules also means using lighter weight materials, in turn contributing to a reduction in transport requirements – allowing more materials to be delivered at once to reduce carbon emissions.”
The new facility will replace the hospital’s old ‘Outpatients B’ building, which closed in November 2023, and was demolished. The services previously based there are now in temporary locations, but the new building will reunite them at Stepping Hill Hospital in one purpose-built centre.
The building is being constructed using 86 factory-manufactured structural steel units, which were craned onto the site at the start of the year. Once they were in place, the structure was made weatherproof, and concrete floors poured – a methodology MTX says ‘contributes to the high quality finish of the building’. MTX is also managing the fit-out, with many of the M&E elements – including air-handling units – manufactured offsite in factory conditions ready for assembly and final testing.
Developing the site where hospital wards had been located presented significant challenges for the company – including removing previous structures containing asbestos material, and mitigating the presence of a below-ground abandoned plantroom. A live multi-service trench which ran through the site of the proposed new building required diversion of water and drainage facilities, electricity, and communications cables.
Karen James OBE, the Trust’s Chief Executive, said: “It is very satisfying to see the construction of our new Outpatients building fully underway, and I’d like to thank our Capital Estates team and our contractor partners, MTX, for their hard work. The logistical difficulties in transporting the many large modules which make up this building are immense, and they have done an excellent job. We are very much looking forward to having our outpatient services being provided from this new and greatly improved building.”
