Surveys to take place on cladding on Oxford Children’s Hospital and at the Churchill Hospital
03/09/2019
This article is more than four years old.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust announced today that intrusive surveys of the cladding at the Children's Hospital at the John Radcliffe Hospital and the Cancer and Haematology Centre at the Churchill Hospital will start in early September 2019.
Routine building surveys identified that some of the cladding might need further investigation or replacement. There are no plans to change the look, colour, feel or design of the exteriors of these buildings.
The Trust has worked collaboratively with their PFI providers, The Hospital Company ("THC") and Ochre Solutions Limited ("OSL"), as well as Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service ("OCCFRS") to put in place detailed plans for these surveys so that they can be achieved with minimal disruption to patient care and to maintain the safety of patients, staff and visitors. Staff on the affected wards have been fully briefed on what to expect and fire safety mitigation procedures will continue.
Jason Dorsett, Chief Finance Officer said: "While both these projects involve cladding, the requirements at each location are different. The Trust has been working closely with both our PFI providers as well as OCCFRS to ensure that these buildings are safe and that the remedial work can be done with the minimum disruption to our patients, visitors and staff. In both cases the costs of the work will be met by our PFI providers.
"I would like to assure patients, visitors and staff that the buildings are safe for use and that current fire safety standards are being met at both hospitals."
Rob MacDougall, Chief Fire Officer at Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service said: "We have been working closely with the Trust and its PFI providers to ensure that patients, staff and everyone else using these premises are safe while this work is carried out. A comprehensive range of fire safety measures at the Children's Hospital are in place and we are satisfied with the arrangements."
Oxford Children's Hospital and the West Wing
At Oxford Children's Hospital, the facades of the building are currently being investigated because a routine survey found that they were not built with the cladding specified in the design. The Trust and the PFI provider, THC, have worked closely with OCCFRS to put in place fire safety mitigation measures to ensure that the buildings are safe and that patient care is not interrupted. These measures include hourly fire safety walkabout checks to enforce good practice and housekeeping measures, such as ensuring corridors are clear.
The intrusive surveys will take approximately 12 weeks and involve removing sections of panelling in four areas of the Children's Hospital building. The panels will be replaced once the area has been surveyed. Removing the panelling will enable engineers and designers to obtain detailed information of the building's construction so that they can design new cladding for any that needs to be replaced.
Once the intrusive surveys are complete this will inform the full programme and cost works that will be met by the PFI provider for the next phase. It is likely to involve replacement of some or all of the cladding on the West Wing and the Children's Hospital.
The cost of putting right the defects will be met by THC.
Churchill Hospital
Two sets of work will begin at the Churchill Hospital. There will be borescope surveys of the cladding around the full perimeter of the building and, in addition, sections of cladding will be removed and replaced from two areas along the western elevation.
The intrusive surveys will take approximately two to three months and involve either a simple borescope survey of the ventilated cavities or may involve removing some panelling. The panels will be replaced once the area has been surveyed. These surveys will enable engineers and designers to obtain detailed information of the building's construction so that they can design the best solution to remedy any defects they uncover.
In the other work at the front of the building (western elevation), removing and replacing the cladding panels in two locations is targeted to conclude in early 2020. The two areas are adjacent to the Churchill Intensive Care Unit and the North East Stairwell. No interim fire safety mitigation measures are needed at this site.
The cost of the survey and replacement work will be met by OSL at its own cost.