Countess of Chester Hospital

Medical Air Technology (MAT) has completed another successful theatre refurbishment, this time at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The large 600-bed district general hospital, operated by the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust, serves patients from Western Cheshire, Ellesmere Port, Neston and North Wales. In order to meet the growing number of referrals it receives for orthopaedic surgery, the hospital brought MAT in to completely refit and upgrade Theatre 9 and bring it up to the standard required for orthopaedic procedures with the installation of an ECOflow™ ultraclean ventilation (UCV) canopy.

MAT was awarded the contract for the work after tendering a winning bid that demonstrated it had the expertise and capacity to deliver the project within the required time and budget. MAT has carried out previous theatre upgrades at the site and has developed an excellent working relationship with the estates department and project teams, with all parties working closely together to ensure the best outcome.

Work on Theatre 9 was carried out between October and December 2018. It included a full stripout of all existing services and replacement of the air handling unit (AHU), building management system (BMS), ductwork, domestic water services, medical gas system and fire alarm modification. The theatre features new general lighting, a theatre control panel and an IPS/UPS system. At its heart lies the MAT ECO-flow™ UCV canopy, which dilutes air so it contains not more than 10 CFU/m3, the level required for ultraclean air in HTM 03-01. Creating a ‘clean zone’ around the patient that is effectively free of bacteria-carrying airborne particles while the operation is in progress reduces contaminants at the wound site and dramatically reduces the risk of post-operative infection, meaning less requirement for antibiotics, less chance of costly remedial surgery and less ensuing pressure on already busy operating theatres. MAT also carried out commissioning of the new theatre prior to its opening.