interviews

Space-age services

David Small, general manager of NHS Lothian East and Midlothian Health Partnership, talks to NHE about the cutting edge technology used in a modern primary care centre.

A new primary care centre has just been constructed for services in Musselburgh, East Lothian, bringing together three separate and outdated buildings spread across the town. Several years in the pipeline, the centre is now almost set to open, with final details going into place as NHE went to press.

General manager of NHS Lothian East and Midlothian Health Partnership David Small explained more about the construction project, and how the new facility will affect patients in the area.

Archaeological discoveries

Much planning work had to be done, Small said, complicated by the central location of the new site. The discovery of archaeological evidence also necessitated additional time spent on this stage, as investigations were conducted into Roman remains.

Small said: “All of those things aside, the actually construction period has been remarkably straightforward. It’s on time, its on cost and it’s a very nice looking building.”

The benefits it will provide to patients in the Musselburgh area include improved access to services, state of the art accommodation – including a Nasa-developed roof – and the amalgamation of three GP practices. A whole range of community services will also be provided, including a dental service, allowing clearer communication when managing patient care.

Inflatable roofs

In terms of new technology and innovative developments, the energy centre for the building is a combined heat and power plant. This will provide up to 25% of the centre’s electricity and heat, which could significantly reduce energy bills.

Additionally, the aforementioned roof over the mall on the building is made from a Nasa-designed plastic. This makes it low maintenance, and it is even self-cleaning as the rainwater runs off, flushing dust and debris off the roof, instead of collecting in pools.

The roof is also inflated, and under constant pressure as a machine pumps air in between the two layers of plastic. It also allows natural light to flood the mall through the clear plastic. Small recommended imagining a “giant, see-through, very strong lilo”.

While this sounds incredibly expensive, it is actually no more costly than a conventional glass roof, according to the architect of the project. This is because a conventional glass roof would require heavy duty framing to support the glass, whereas this is “much lighter” in construction.

Managing the transfer

To effectively manage the transfer of services, a commissioning group has been established to work with the project team. A commissioning manager oversees this move, and is aided in this task by a commissioning support worker.

Small explained: “You have got to go through a lot of detail to manage the transition successfully, down to the level of who gets what key to what room, right up to the timing of the actual moves of services. We’ve engaged representatives from every department in that, it’s been a very detailed process. The moves will take place from mid-April through to mid-May.”

Engagement with the public was also ensured through the project team and the commissioning group. A representative is part of that group to aid with communications to the wider public of Musselburgh. Small said that this would allow people to clearly understand which services were moving, when this would take place and how to access the new centre.

He added: “An organisation called the Public Partnership Forum nominated a member who actually lives in Musselburgh to join the project team and he’s been very helpful.”

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