Procure Partnerships Framework contractor partner Novus Property Solutions is delivering the renewal of the main entrance and café area at the Park House Unit at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. The refurbishment includes a new cafe and seating area, new modern led lighting, new vinyl floor covering, new modern signage. The following details the scope of the works and includes comment from the Client, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
The Trust works hard to reduce anxiety about admission and provides a supportive environment where an individual can feel safe and have appropriate quality nursing and medical interventions. The Trust’s aim is to plan towards successful discharge, and a person’s sense of dignity, privacy and individuality is respected at all times. A welcoming and pleasant entrance and café area contributes to these aims and reduces anxiety for people being cared for by The Trust.
The project’s purpose was therefore to make alterations to the entrance and café area of a Park House to lift the overall finish of the building to create a more pleasant environment. The works included; demolitions, partition alterations, floor wall and ceiling finishes, joinery works, sanitaryware, decoration, services installations, and minor drainage works.
Chris Butler, Regional Senior QS at Novus Property Solutions commented on the success of the project: “This has been a challenging yet rewarding project, there have been some tight timescales with a number of variations along the way but with a good operational and commercial team working together and a good contractor / Client relationship, no major problems came to light that could not be dealt with swiftly and effectively.”
A challenge encountered during project delivery was minimising the impact on a live hospital setting. The area of the hospital being worked on receives a high volume of patients and visitors to site and careful planning was essential to minimising the impact felt by service users, this was an essential element of the project.
Planning works to be carried out during the night mitigated against disruptions to the daytime operations of the hospital but presented a second challenge, noise during the night. Works were carried out in very close proximity to overnight wards, noise had to be kept to the absolute minimum. The area is also within a crash route for emergency services, this required the Novus team to be ready to clear emergency routes with very short notice so as not to disrupt vital emergency services.
Peter O’Sullivan, Capital Projects Manager at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust commented on the project: “This scheme has ran well considering the live environment it is situated in and also the tight timescale of the program. There has been a good working relationship forged between the trust as the client and the main contractor Novus, this has enabled us to overcome the challenges that have arisen quickly and professionally. The refurbishment of this environment will have a massive positive impact for all the service users, staff and general public that will use this building so this scheme has been particularly rewarding, I would recommend Novus as a main contractor for any future projects.”
Faye Dolan, Key Account Manager at Procure Partnerships Framework added: “The success of this job is a source of great satisfaction for Procure Partnerships Framework as a whole, the Framework prides itself on fostering collaboration and close working relationships between our Contractor Partners and our Clients. Novus Property Solutions and Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust have forged a strong relationship that is built on clearly understanding the client and the service they provide, it is a credit to their organisation that Novus created an environment at Park House which will have a positive and transformative impact on the experience of people using the service
Faye Dolan, an esteemed professional and Framework Director at Procure Partnerships, boasts a rich and diverse career spanning seven years in the construction industry. Faye’s journey within Procure Partnerships began in 2018 as a Key Account Manager, initially overseeing the North West region and later extending her purview to the entire North.
