MRI given green light for £40m A&E overhaul
A 55,000 sq ft extension featuring an expanded emergency department, six operating theatres, and a clutch of additional improved facilities is to be constructed by Integrated Health Projects.
Manchester City Council has granted approval to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust for the £40m project, which the applicant hopes will support the hospital’s developing role as a regional centre for specialist surgery and provide a more modern experience for patients.
Manchester Royal Infirmary’s current emergency department was built in the 1980s.
Vanessa Gardener, chief executive of MRI, said: “Manchester is a rapidly developing city, with a much larger population and different health requirements to the 1980s.
“These exciting plans lay out our vision for a new and improved department that will best support the needs of Manchester and beyond, now and in decades to come, for the communities we serve and our staff who work in this department.”
The scheme, designed by Day Architectural, is aimed at boosting MRI’s capacity by upping the number of resuscitation bays and majors cubicles.
Day Architectural designed the extension
Integrated Health Projects, a joint venture between Vinci Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine, has been appointed to build the extension, fronting Upper Brook Street, near the junction with Grafton Street.
Construction is expected to start later this year and temporary changes to the department’s access and layout will be put in place to ensure it can continue to operate fully throughout the construction phase.
In total, construction is expected to take just over three years to complete.
Julia Bridgewater, chief operating officer at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This major transformation project will mean patients presenting at the MRI emergency department can be seen by the right people and receive the right treatment quicker in a much-improved patient environment.”
The scheme is one of a several major hospital overhauls in the pipeline in Manchester. The £600m project to redevelop the North Manchester General Hospital site into a five-part “healthy living campus” is progressing, while plans to upgrade Wythenshawe Hospital’s ageing estate over the next 15-years were signed off by Manchester City Council in March.
