Nightingale Hospital, Whiteabbey

Northern Ireland’s second Nightingale hospital was successfully handed over on Friday the 4^th of December.

Dowds Group were appointed as main contractor on this monumental project working alongside TODD Architects Ltd. as architect and lead consultant to the project, with Beattie Flanigan Consulting Engineers, Doran Consulting and Currie & Brown as an integrated design team. The appointment of the Nightingale contract follows the successful completion of the M&E works of the North Block at Altnagelvin Hospital in April 2020, handing over 70+ beds to support our health service during the first wave of the crisis, and working as main contractor on Holywell Hospital in May 2020.

Whiteabbey Hospital is the home of the new facility which will have up to 100 beds to help ease the burden on hospitals as it allows for the rehabilitation of Covid patients. The creation of this vital enhanced rehabilitation facility was only announced in September and had the dual challenge of being delivered within a tight programme and on the site of a working hospital. Drawing on their extensive experience from across the UK, the team at TODD Architects and the Construction and Building Services teams at Dowds Group oversaw the process of delivering the 100-bed scheme safely and at speed, whilst also ensuring the facilities met the strict healthcare requirements of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust. The new Nightingale will generally cater for low acuity/step-down patients who are well enough to leave an acute hospital but who would benefit from a period of intensive rehabilitation. However, the scheme has been designed and delivered to provide some flexibility to step-up care when and if required. In the immediate term, it will be managed as a regional resource to support the response to Covid-19, but in choosing to remodel an existing hospital facility it also provides a valuable longer-term asset for the provision of healthcare in the region.

Andrew Murray, Director at TODD Architects said: “The successful delivery of this vital healthcare facility was the product of an incredible collaboration between the Design team, Main Contractor Dowds Group, the Northern Trust and CPD Health Projects on a ‘live’ hospital site. This monumental team effort has achieved the highest possible standard of healthcare services within a tight timeframe. It has been amazing to witness the whole construction industry come together with purpose to support the tireless work of the NHS in this time of crisis.”

Nicholas McKee, Build Manager at Dowds Group added: “We were delighted to once again partner TODD Architects on another landmark hospital project. The works necessitated completion to an exceptionally high quality and one of the tightest build programmes we have faced. We are very proud of the extended site team who went over and above to do their part to contribute to Northern Ireland’s fight against Covid-19.”