Royal London Hospital

A & E COVID-19 secure works

TRS were asked to carry out the following works on behalf of a Tier 1 FM Maintenance provider to an NHS trust within existing A&E treatment rooms. The objective was to ensure nursing staff could work in the same areas as COVID 19 patients whilst reducing the possibility of transmission of the disease.

The plan was to construct lobbies within the existing treatment rooms with a positive air pressure while the rooms were maintained at atmospheric pressure.

These works required lobbies to be built with additional hand wash stations for staff, vision panels so patients may be viewed from outside the room within the safe staff area and a communication system from the safe staff area to within the treatment rooms.

This would reduce the frequency of the need for staff to enter the rooms, saving time and essential Personal Protective Equipment.

The dividing walls were built with standard construction materials together with hygiene cladding, with wash stations, Basins and taps installed in accordance with HTM Standards.

The flooring required minor repairs and on completion the areas were decorated to match the existing finishes.

In order to maintain the fire integrity of the areas we reconfigured the existing sprinklers system together with additional smoke detection.

The lighting and small power installation was modified to accommodate the new layout, with additional lighting within the lobbies.

The ductwork was reconfigured to ensure positive pressure was available in the lobby areas.

Pressure relief dampers were specified by a TRS appointed consultant. Working alongside the consultants dampers were sourced  and installed with a visual and audible electronic monitoring system. This provided a system to enable healthcare staff to monitor the lobbies for safe continued use.

The project was originally due to be carried out over the entire area but due to the increased rate of infections this was split into three phases to reduce the impact on the operational A&E areas.

Constant collaboration with our client and the NHS trust ensured the works were completed and delivered with minimum impact on the A&E department of one of the largest hospitals in London.