Caunton supplied and erected the steelwork, plus the related concrete floors and staircases, for a major new extension to the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield. Caunton were working for main contractor Interserve Project Services and client Heart of England Foundation NHS Trust, within the Procure 21 framework. The new extension is to be called Ward Block One, and is a £16.5million investment, and part of the hospital’s 10 year development programme.

Over 700te of steelwork has been required and forms the beam and column framework for a three storey building and an enclosed plant room above. To minimize the building height, the designer Capita Symonds has employed a Slimflor design, incorporating universal column sections for the floor beams.

The aim of course is to improve the hospital’s operational efficiency and also patient flow, and the new building is to be linked to the existing Accident & Emergency (A&E) department. This will be accommodating a Clinical Decisions unit, fifteen treatment bays, three consulting rooms and a medical records room. In addition to this, the first floor will incorporate a state-of-the-art I.T.U. and high dependency unit with eighteen treatment rooms, a coronary care unit on the second floor and a ward to house elderly patients on the third floor.

Having just completed the extension to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in nearby Birmingham, (see Web site news 13.01.10) Caunton are delighted to be contributing to the fast improving health facilities of the nation.