NHS Louisa Jordan decommissioning

One year after an incredible show of collaboration to deliver the NHS Louisa Jordan, Robertson was back on site with Balfour Beatty, Kier Scotland and Graham to carry out decommissioning works at the temporary field hospital set up to support the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With stringent Safe Operating Procedures in place, 120 workers covering construction, facilities management and technical services dismantled and removed all fixed and portable equipment and services, including:

• 1,200 bed bays and associated medical equipment and furniture.
• 23,000 m2 of vinyl flooring, with floor sanitized and painted.
• 220,000 m of fibreoptic and structured cabling.
• 35,000 m of network cabling.
• Wash hand stations, utility rooms and mortuary.

The team worked to a 10-week programme which was extended to 12.5 weeks to take in £1.4m of betterment works on floors, extract fans and walls.

To reduce materials going to landfill and provide a strategic reserve for NHS Scotland we retained, packed and transported 500 of every single item offsite – from beds and drip stands to thermometres and X-ray accessories – equating to more than £4m of equipment. Some 12,000 m2 of vinyl flooring was recycled and used within the local community.

The NHS Louisa Jordan represents a remarkable example of collaboration, and how a site can be transformed or adapted for reuse. Within the construction industry, the project sparked discussion on how future healthcare facilities can be designed and constructed faster, while delivering on quality and sustainability.

While no COVID-19 cased were treated due to efforts to reduce spread of the virus, the hospital played a vital role in reducing waiting times and increasing confidence in NHS services for non-Covid related healthcare:

• 32,000 outpatients treated.
• 6,900 healthcare staff and students trained.
• 175,000 vaccines delivered.