Additional VIE, Royal Free Hospital
Case studies > Capital projects
Doubling the existing oxygen capacity at the Royal Free Hospital was required as a result of low pressure and flow rates witnessed on the site during the onset of the first wave of Covid 19. Two new oxygen tanks were installed, adjacent to the Rowland Hill Street entrance, which increased oxygen supply by a further 3,000l/per minute. This resilience was key to ensuring continued treatment throughout the pandemic.
Scheme highlights
The trust was successful in its application to NHS England to become one of the country’s national priority sites for additional resilient oxygen supply. This was crucial towards our response to COVID-19 throughout the first and second wave.
Challenges
The securing of the additional primary and secondary VIE setup from BOC was challenging due to the high demand of VIE’s across the country and of course the pull on infrastructure to all nightingale hospitals being set up at the same time. Availability was sanctioned by NHSE. Also, connecting into a live system without disruption or interruption of oxygen supply to the patient at this crucial time was critical to success.
“This was a challenging but rewarding project that demonstrated our Capital & Estates development teams working together and were able to deliver an essential project over a very short period of time.”
Rui Reis, RF Infrastructure Manager
Key Details
Location – Royal Free Hospital – Roland Hill
£400k approx. (BOC install, utility supply, professional fees)
VIE Primary @ 20m3/20000ltr
VIE Back up @ 10m3 / 10000ltr
Construction Timescale –
3 weeks from start to finish – April 2020
Services Provided
Project Management
Relocations and commissioning
Procurement
Pre-contract/post-contract management
