Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is to open a new £8 million Intensive Care Unit (ICU) next week.
The new unit facility will include 24 beds, with spaces double the size of the current facilities. Staff will have their own separate access to the facility and separate areas for staff rest rooms, offices and support services.
Chris Long, Chief Executive, said: “This fantastic unit will support our outstanding critical care teams by providing some of the best facilities in the country.
“As a major trauma centre for the entire region, our new unit will help us save more lives and provide our sickest and most critically injured patients, as well as their relatives and our staff, with cutting-edge equipment in a modern environment.
“It puts our area in the best possible position to deal with any future waves of the virus or, indeed, any other pandemic in the future.”
Each cubicle will have a ‘glass front’, with a central observation area for staff. The trust said: “Every cubicle has a Draegar ceiling pendant for essential services including medical gases to maximise the floor space. This means doctors, nurses and other health professionals such as physiotherapists will be able to perform their tasks more easily around the patient’s bed.
“Electric hoists have also been fitted so staff can lift patients safely, reducing the risk of musculoskeletal problems in the future.
“Cubicles will be fitted with negative air extraction systems to assist infection prevention and control. Six of the 12 on each floor have “donning and doffing” anterooms so staff can care for patients with Covid-19 or any other infectious disease.”
The new theatre floor will also act as a decant space so the existing ICUs can undergo routine maintenance.
Duncan Taylor, Director of Estates, Facilities and Development, added: “Our team has worked hand-in-hand with our clinical colleagues who deliver the care to design the unit with their needs and the needs of the people they care for at the forefront of every decision and plan.
“The result is an Intensive Care Unit which symbolises the futures of critical care and we’re very proud that Hull and our trust is at the forefront of this innovation.”
