Temporary hospital in Jersey to increase acute care capacity for coronavirus patients

The Assignment
As the COVID-19 epidemic was spreading in England, the UK government and NHS England were planning temporary large-scale critical care hospitals to provide cover for the projected increase in patients likely to need this type of facility. The temporary hospital in Jersey was one of UK’s pop-up facilities as part of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These hospitals have been named after Florence Nightingale, who came to prominence for nursing soldiers during the Crimean War and is regarded as the founder of modern nursing.

Jersey’s Nightingale hospital was opened by the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, via video link in a virtual ceremony. The new wing of the Jersey General Hospital was designed to provide extra capacity to treat coronavirus patients. Patients can be assessed at the General Hospital before going to the Nightingale Hospital, where they can receive oxygen. People in need of intensive care will be treated at the General Hospital.

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The Solution
Jersey’s government looked at a variety of options before choosing the site in Millbrook. Millbrook playing fields was flat, big enough, had access to drainage and electricity and it is close to the current hospital.

It took a sixteen-strong crew of Neptunus technicians just seven days to build Jersey’s temporary hospital in readiness for the internal fit-out. An Evolution II, Neptunus’ own state-of-the-art temporary building, has the look and feel of a permanent building. The 40 metres by 130 metres and 6 metres in height building and with a thermal roof is designed to allow medical teams to work as efficiently as possible. It is set out in a Nightingale style with six 30-bed wards and areas to admit and discharge patients, as well as staff rest and changing facilities, X-rays, equipment storage, laundry and a morgue. The facility is built in a modular way so the number of beds can be reduced and increased to a maximum of 180.

Leading building contractor J3 Limited approached Neptunus for their renowned reputation of building high-quality temporary buildings in such time frame. The J3 team had experience of working on the NHS Nightingale Hospitals in Manchester, Preston, Bangor and Glasgow.

Another Covid-19 hospital was built in the Millennium Stadium of Cardiff to treat patients who are diagnosed with the Covid-19 virus. The hospital was named as Dragon’s Heart Hospital. Neptunus built nearly 13,000 square metres of Alu Halls for a capacity of 2,000 beds and was constructed in just 10 days.

The Challenge
Speed was essential in the planning to delivery on site. The Government of Jersey needed a temporary structure of high quality that could be constructed in a tight time frame. The project was completed after four weeks of work at Millbrook Field.

As Jersey is an island, all materials had to be transported on trucks crossing the Channel by ferry. The building crew had to stay in quarantine to minimize the risk of contamination and had restrictions in their movement and were transported by special busses from accommodation to building site.

The hospital is expected to be on site for at least four months. Once the pandemic is over, it will be dismantled and the Millbrook Playing Fields returned to how it was as the top soil and turf has been stored so it can be returned to its normal use. The structure will be dismantled and returned to Neptunus’ stock for other projects.

The Verdict
Marc Burton, Project Director of J3 Limited, said: “Neptunus were able to respond swiftly and with the most appropriate building for our needs. Their Evolution structure was built at a remarkable speed given the size of the requirement we had to put in place. The whole Neptunus team pulled together incredibly quickly to deliver our urgent need to create a temporary facility to deal with Covid-19 whilst working hand in hand with our construction delivery lead, J3. We are incredibly proud of the hospital that has been built and Neptunus have played a large part in the delivery of it.”