Microbiology Automation & Central Manchester University Hospitals Framework Manchester, UK
The majority of the Central Manchester University Hospitals (CMUH) site is run under a PFI concession operated by Cofely FM. Over the life of the agreement there are a substantial number of variations issued by the Trust to Cofely FM to modify the estate to meet their clinical needs, as well as life-cycle upgrade works to facilities.
In 2013 Sheppard Robson was appointed to a limited supplier framework with Cofely FM, as designer for those works. The aim of the framework is to build familiarity with the Trust site and procedures, and build value through repetition, sharing of lessons learnt and developing the Trust’s BIM management approach.
One of our first projects on the framework has been a variation to automate the microbiology laboratory, combined with a life-cycle refurbishment to the adjacent floorplate.
Microbiology is traditionally a lab-based process, whereby samples are examined individually by laboratory staff under microscopes and other equipment. The aim of this project is to automate the process, to streamline and speed up the delivery of results to clinicians. The resultant efficiency has generated a secondary aspiration for the project — to be able to provide microbiology services to other nearby trusts.
As this is only the second facility of its type in the UK, we have worked closely with the Trust’s microbiology and estates teams to evaluate the feasibility of the project and the different technologies available, and have worked with the preferred equipment supplier to accommodate the imaging lines within the space.
- Size
- 12,077 m2
- Completion
- 2022
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