'Milestone' reached for new surgical centre at Musgrove Park Hospital
On Friday, they held the 'topping off ceremony', as the roof's officially been built at the £87 million state-of-the-art site
Last updated 27th Jan 2024
A 'huge milestone' has been marked this week in the building of a new surgical centre at Musgrove Park Hospital.
A 'topping out' ceremony was held yesterday (January 26), traditionally held when the roof of a building has been completed.
The £87 million, state-of-the-art building will replace the current hospital theatres and critical care unit, built during the Second World War as part of a temporary casualty evacuation hospital for the D-Day landings.
Colleagues from our critical care unit, theatres and endoscopy were all given a tour of the building so they could see first hand where they’ll be working in the future.
The new centre will feature:
- Six endoscopy rooms, patient recovery and clinical support areas
- Eight operating theatres (including two state-of-the-art hybrid operating theatres that can be used for both surgery and interventional radiology), recovery areas and clinical support
- 22 critical care beds, all specified for level 2 and 3 critical care patients
Dr Dan Meron, the chief medical officer, said he was pleased with the progress of the surgical centre development.
He added: “It has been great seeing our surgical centre rise up out of the ground over the last few months and we’re very much looking forward to being able to care for and treat patients in state-of-the-art operating theatres and critical care facilities,” he said.
“The quality of care provided to our patients is something we are very proud of, and we want to help people to stay as well as possible, but where people need specialist intervention, our new centre will be there to support them through surgery and intensive care.
“Our new surgical centre will also mean we can continue to phase out the use of our older 1940s buildings for patient care and treatment, which is an important step as they’re increasingly difficult to maintain.
“I know there has been a lot of noise and disruption and want to thank colleagues for all your incredible patience as our construction colleagues get the building ready for us to use.”
Much building work and service moves have taken place over the last few years in preparation for the new surgical centre, including a new sterile services centre, relocated superficial x-ray department, and main hospital kitchen move, among others.