Our #BehindtheBuilding campaign celebrates the people, partnerships and stories behind University Hospitals Plymouth's new £247m Emergency Care Building, focusing on the human aspect of the Future Hospital Programme and the wide variety of roles involved, not only in the design and construction, but also hearing from those who will be working in the new building once open.
In the second of our #BehindtheBuilding series looking at the new Emergency Care Building (ECB), we talk to Johnathan Bradbury who is the Regional Director and Healthcare Sector Lead for Services Design Solution (SDS).
Can you tell us a bit about SDS?
Services Design Solution are a building services and sustainability consultant. We have offices in Cornwall, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham. We have about 101 people and predominantly what we do is we design pipes and wires throughout the building.
How are you involved in the ECB?
So my involvement is as a Project Director for SDS. Most of my day-to-day activity is overseeing the team, working on designing the systems, the lighting, the ventilation, the water, the medical gases, the life safety systems like the standby generation, and we work with the architect, the civil and structural engineer, the contractor, the client team, and the mechanical electrical contractor as well.
What does a typical day on this project look like for you?
A typical day changes throughout the lifespan of this project. We start in the very early stages with design, working very closely with the architect and the client to understand what the needs are. We then turn that from concept into a working design. At some point then the contractor comes on board and the focus shifts from what is a concept design through to making it something that can be built, within the cost plan and timeframe required. It then morphs into the construction activities, so how we make things work on site as the building is coming up out of the ground. A lot of that is spent in meetings, producing drawings, calculations and working with the team to get the best outcome.
Have you had much involvement with healthcare before?
I’ve worked in healthcare for a long time now. I’ve done a lot of different projects, from small projects like x-ray replacements, all the way through to (and probably the most notable for me) building the Nightingale Hospital in Exeter. Healthcare has a huge impact on day-to-day lives and so is a passion of mine.
Why is the ECB so important?
I think this is a massively important project because it pretty much doubles the emergency care provision, as I understand it. We've got nine operating theatres in there and we've got same day emergency care. So it means that you can significantly reduce the ambulance waiting times.
This particular project will see two million people regionally and generally the first time that these people will interact with this building is in a time of their greatest need. So it's great to be able to have an impact both for the patient, but also a large part of what we do is trying to make it the best possible environment for the staff, so they can not only influence their outcomes, but their patient's outcomes as well.
Have you had a personal experience of the Emergency Department before?
I remember being in what is currently the Major's department in the Emergency Department, and receiving some really bad news about my father in law. And one of the main things that when I look back on that, I remember how busy and how bustling the department was and perhaps not the best environment to get that bad news. And so one of the major benefits, I think, will come of this department is being able to have the privacy and dignity that you'd want for that sort of news. And I think that this project really is going to deliver that, if I'm honest.
How do you feel about the investment into healthcare in Plymouth?
Derriford is a major trauma centre and serves a wider population of about two million people, so investing in the city is absolutely key.
I live within Plymouth, as do most of our staff actually. It is almost inevitable that I will need this facility at some point throughout my life, or at least one of my family members will. You want to make that environment the best possible environment that you can have so that if you need it or your family need it or your friends need it, they're being looked after.
What is it like seeing the building go from paper to reality?
It's really exciting to see it come to life, because I can walk out my front door and I can see the red lights on the tower crane from my front door, and so suddenly it starts to feel real and it starts to feel tangible.
