8 October 2010
The new £9m neonatal unit at Leicester Royal Infirmary has
officially opened.
Capita Symonds provided full building services design, public
health engineering, and energy & sustainability consultancy for
the new P21 facility as part of a team led by Interserve.
The new 1711sqm unit comprises a Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit
(NICU); High Dependency Unit (HDU); Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU);
24 intensive and special-care cots; three parents' bedrooms; a play
area; quiet rooms for parents; a reception and waiting room area;
and new equipment. There also plans to expand the unit to care for
a further 12 babies.
Approximately 10,500 babies are born every year in the
surrounding Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland areas and about
1,600 of these will need special neonatal care. Housed on the
second floor of the hospital’s Kensington Building, the new unit
replaces an old and cramped neonatal unit which was previously
housed on the fifth floor.
Martin Homer, Associate Electrical Director, Capita Symonds,
says: “The unit 
features a range of innovative building services
technologies that will help staff care for sick and vulnerable
babies, such as new presence-detection automatic lighting controls
and daylight-dimming, which not only help save energy within cot
bay areas but also provide greater flexibility for staff since new
born babies recover better in darker light. UPS (Uninterruptable
Power Supply) and IPS (Isolated Power Supply) services to ITU/HDU
cot areas will also guarantee continuity of power supply at all
times.”
Ian Barnes, Associate Mechanical Director, Capita Symonds, says:
“The works took place in a live working hospital environment so it
was essential for the services design to manage various shutdowns
by liaising with all department heads, infection control and design
team members. One of the key aspects of the design infrastructure
includes special ceiling mounted ‘pendants’ which house all the
essential electrical services, medical gases, monitoring equipment
and uninterruptible power supply to the cots.”
Other benefits designed by Capita Symonds include:
- Reduction of heating energy requirements through heat recovery
systems in the air handling units;
- Excellent independent room user control to achieve specific
temperatures;
- Reduced heating costs with high seasonal efficiency
boilers;
- Controlled environment to clinical areas with new mechanical
ventilation supply.
This scheme is aiming to achieve a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ – the
highest rating achievable for a refurbishment scheme.