The COVID-19 pandemic has required a level of collaboration across every part of the healthcare industry that has never been seen before.
The first was the UK’s first COVID-19 ward, built at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire to house 30 beds.
MIG’s services included an oxygen total flow test to check the resilience of the gasses system, before installing the entire gas supply, bed head units and hand and crash rails.
“This project started out as a standard ward installation but was re-designated a COVID-19 ward once the scale of the pandemic became clear,” explained MIG project director Stephen Mitten.
“Because coronavirus patients require more oxygen to help them recover, we completely removed the existing pipeline and installed a replacement with a larger diameter. This increased the flow-rate to the required standard.”
As COVID-19 infections continued to rise, it led to additional challenges with the next project at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.
Working with Portakabin, MIG delivered a standalone 30-bed ward that included installations of medical gas, bed locators, static bed head units, nurse call and hand and crash rails.
Stephen said: “At the height of the pandemic we were working flat out to help hospitals build extra capacity, with all the additional health and safety considerations that came with the projects.
“This meant installing equipment while wearing extra PPE, including overalls, mask, glasses, hard hat and boots, all while observing social distancing and hygiene standards.”
MIG worked to the same conditions on the next project, a 60-bed frailty ward for Whiston Hospital in Merseyside that required the same installations as Stoke Mandeville.
Working with Portakabin on all three projects required MIG teams to move quickly, be flexible and do their best with very little notice.
Stephen added: “We have been working closely with Portakabin for around eight years – we know how high their standards are. We share a great relationship because we have the same expectations when it comes to delivering high quality projects where being late is not an option.”