Builders reveal why new theatre facilities at Leeds Children’s Hospital mean so much to them

Builders reveal why new theatre facilities at Leeds Children’s Hospital mean so much to them

Leeds, 3 September 2018 - Work on the new Leeds Children’s Hospital theatre is progressing well and on track to open in February next year. But the works, for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, have a special significance for the two men leading the construction.

Construction Manager Matthew Garnett, from Leeds, and Project Manager Daniel Marsh, from Sheffield, are in charge of the Hybrid Cardiac Theatre and Interoperative MRI Scanning Facility being built at the Hospital’s Clarendon Wing. But both men have reason to be grateful to be giving something back to the staff there, because Matthew Garnett’s son had treatment there, and Dan Marsh’s son was born there.

‘It’s really quite a happy place for me to work’, says Dan. ‘My wife Hannah was a midwife here and our son, Finley, was born here two and half years ago. When I arrived, I recognised a few of the faces.’ It’s a day Dan won’t easily forget because little Finley was born on Dan’s birthday! ‘That’s me out of the picture on my own birthday for the next twenty years’, he says.

Construction Manager Matthew Garnett has more mixed feelings about his visit to the facilities he now finds himself responsible for working around in close proximity – literally – because there are surgeons in the room next to where the new facilities being created, separated by temporary but specialist partitions to damp noise and protect from dust.

‘My son, Max, was here about a dozen years ago. He had a procedure for juvenile arthritis. Not everybody with that condition gets away with a single procedure but thankfully, it was a success and Max didn’t need to return. I have a real appreciation therefore, for the work that goes on here and we have made the children’s hospital our charity partner while we are here, and have already raised over £3,000 pounds for them.’

Both men work for major contractor BAM, based at Thorpe Park, and Matthew says the works are really important. ‘Parts of the hospital are 150 years old. There is a need to upgrade. The Trust has a major masterplan and what we need to do for them is not just construct facilities, but to really get inside their minds and see things exactly as they do, because a hospital is a very complex building with users who have different needs. You can’t close it down; you have to work sensitively alongside very delicate operations.’

The magnetic fields created by the scanner, and the safety measures around it, have affected the way BAM has been working, such as the type of scaffolding used.

‘We’ve modelled all our movements in advance using BIM technology which has helped us work very closely alongside the Hospital’s clinical needs. It means they can work as many hours as possible before we take over the space, and that they get it back again almost immediately afterwards.’

The developments are keenly awaited by the Hospital’s staff. Ms Carin Van Doorn, Consultant Congenital Cardiac Surgeon, said: ‘We are very excited about the new hybrid theatre. This state of the art facility will allow us to combine different types of treatments for children with heart problems in the same session. This will be of huge benefit in particular for our sickest and most complex patients as they won’t need to go through numerous operations.’

The new facility will also provide an intra-operative MRI scanner, which will allow scans to be done during neurological procedures. For example, surgeons will be able to see straight away how much of a brain tumour has been removed rather than scanning at a later date to discover that additional procedures may be required. Patients need fewer general anaesthetics, MRI scans and surgical procedures.

Matthew, who led the building of Wharfedale Hospital and the new wing at Bradford Royal Infirmary, says the next notable phase of works from a public perspective is the installation of the eight-tonne MRI scanner which will be dropped through a specially-designed space on the roof during December.

From a personal perspective, however, it is Dan Marsh who has the next milestone looming. ‘My wife is due to give birth to our second child in September’, says Dan. ‘She has been coming here for the scans, so it will soon be all four of us with a reason to thank the people I’m working around every day. I’ll never work on another job like this one.’

Further information: Mark Slattery, Press and Media Manager, BAM Construct UK Ltd, 01442 238415.