The £2.1 million, 650 m2 Simpson Birth Centre, recently at the opened at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, was built by Premier Interlink (Waco UK) in just 28 weeks in a ‘total design and build’ contract, with the design fully DDA and HTM-compliant.
Births in Edinburgh and the Lothian area have reportedly been rising by over 10% per annum, and the new facility was constructed to meet the demand for extra maternity services. The contract was awarded to Premier Interlink by Consort Healthcare, working for NHS Lothian, as part of a multi-million pound investment in maternity care.
The new midwife-led centre, completed to budget, has a capacity to treat an extra 1,500 expectant mothers in what is an extension to the main hospital building. This is Scotland’s biggest and busiest maternity unit, with over 6,000 babies born there annually.
Formed from 27 of Premier Interlink’s PremierPlus bays, the Birth Centre houses six birthing suites with en-suites and birthing pools, administration areas, and a first floor plant room. All equipment is stored in high-tech Mediwall built-in cabinets when not in use, to comply with HTM specifications. The exterior is clad in attractive laminated, and ‘low maintenance’, Cedral cladding
PremierPlus is a steel-framed, permanent building solution that ‘provides clean, modern, and comfortable healthcare environments in a significantly shorter time than traditional build’. Premier Interlink says buildings can be completed up to 50% faster than via conventional construction, ‘at a highly competitive price’. A design life of over 100 years, ‘excellent acoustic performance’, and thermal efficiency standards that exceed Building Regulations, are other key features Alex McMahon, NHS Lothian's deputy director of strategic planning and modernisation, said: "Lothian is thriving area that's attracting a lot of people from the rest of the UK and abroad here for work. We want to reflect the views of expectant mothers and others on the sort of care we should be providing, from pre-conception advice through to post-natal care.”
The new birthing centre is large enough to cater for up to 1,500 births a year, while facilities at the Livingston hospital are also enjoying ‘a substantial upgrading.
