By Multi-million pound investment at Hull Royal Infirmary
A new multi-million pound Intensive Care Unit is set to open at Hull Royal Infirmary this summer.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is a Major Trauma Centre for the region.
The new ICU will provide patients in Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire with some of the best critical care facilities in England, according to the trust.
The three-storey building will be situated close to the hospital’s Emergency Department, and will feature modern isolation facilities to ‘future proof’ against the affects of the pandemic.
Chief Executive Chris Long said:
“It is testament to the hard work and dedication of our critical care teams that we will be able to take our place at the forefront of critical care in the country and to our Estates team for driving this project in these challenging times.
“This new unit will be a very welcome addition to the outstanding care we can provide people in critical need of emergency treatment, not just here in East Yorkshire but across our wider region.
“It will enable us to save more lives, provide patients and their families with better facilities and ensure we are in the best possible position to deal with any future waves of the virus or, indeed, any other pandemic in the future.”
Construction on the new 24-bedded ICU began in January, and is expected to open in August, costing in the region of £8m.
A dedicated bed lift will connect the ICU to the theatre complex in the main Hull Royal Infirmary tower block via a link bridge over Lansdowne Road.
A staff-only link staircase will also be created to ensure teams can access the tower block without having to leave the building.
While plans are still awaiting final approval, the top floor of the unit is likely to include two new trauma theatres, with six to eight recovery beds to monitor patients in those critical first few hours after surgery.
As well as increasing theatre capacity at the trust, the new theatre floor will also act as a decant space to allow ongoing maintenance of the existing ICUs throughout the year. The additional space will also enable the trust’s Estates team to begin the work to upgrade the 60-year-old operating theatres in the tower block.
A separate extension is being built next to the ICU to provide support accommodation for staff including rest rooms, offices and support services including Medical Physics.
Duncan Taylor, Director of Estates, Facilities and Development at the trust, said:
“This is a fantastic facility which will help us provide the best possible care for our most seriously ill and injured patients well into the future.
“We undertook months of careful planning and design, working hand-in-hand with our clinical colleagues, to design the unit, using our wealth of experience of the pandemic to provide the cutting-edge facilities our teams will need.
“We are confident our new Intensive Care Unit will serve our staff, our services and our patients well for decades to come.”
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