Skys the limit for maternity expansion

Ever wondered how you get a 70 tonne piece of equipment on top of a four storey building – the answer, by using a super crane.

On Saturday 29th June visitors to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) Open Day and Fete will be able to watch a crane lift an Air Handling Unit onto the roof of the NNUH as part of the expansion of its Delivery Suite.

The hospital has been successful in gaining £272,000 of funding from the Department of Health to improve the environment for patients on its Delivery Suite and this resource will be used to create three additional bathrooms so that all birthing rooms will have individual en-suite facilities.

The Delivery Suite which has currently been relocated to Cley Ward which will have birthing rooms with all the relevant equipment and en-suite facilities. The hospital is also taking this opportunity to increase the overall capacity of the Delivery Suite and adding three new delivery rooms to the current complement of 12 to help the service cope with the predicted increase in the birth rate. The midwifery-led birthing unit is unaffected by these changes.

During this crane 'lift' on Saturday 29th June the West In-patients entrance to the hospital will be closed for the day. Those needing access to the Delivery Suite on Cley Ward will be able to access the hospital via the Jenny Lind Children's Hospital and those needing access to other parts of the West Block will be able to do so via West Outpatients and other entrances which will all be open. The restaurant will also be unaffected by the closure of the West Inpatients entrance.

Bob Wotton, NNUH Head of Facilities who has co-ordinated this event said “This has been no mean feat to undertake, whilst trying to still maintain a fully functional hospital. It is a great opportunity for members of the public to see first hand how our colleagues from Serco undertake such an operation.”