The intensive care unit at Harrogate District Hospital has been officially re-opened after a £1million refurbishment was carried out over the last few months.
The intensive care unit at Harrogate District Hospital has been officially re-opened after a £1million refurbishment was carried out over the last few months. It's been completely stripped down to it's structural shell and rebuilt, to increase capacity and provide a much-improved environment for patients and staff. It now boasts an additional side room, making a total of five side rooms and six further beds across two bays. New flooring, ceilings, doors and wall cladding has been installed as well as dimmable lights, engaging wall murals and LED ceiling panels featuring blue skies, clouds and trees in two of the side rooms. There are two newly-refurbished relatives’ waiting rooms, and brand new televisions in each of the side rooms. Also featured are new wash basins throughout the unit, a new emergency lighting and fire detection system, fully integrated patient monitoring systems and upgraded medical gas pipework. The hospital were able to carry out the refurbishment as the ICU had temporarily moved elsewhere in the hospital to accommodate a larger number of patients during the Covid pandemic. This gave them a rare opportunity to have full access to the main unit to carry out the refurbishment while it was empty. Intensive Care Consultant Dr Sarah Marsh said:
“We had already begun to make plans to upgrade parts of the intensive care unit before the arrival of the pandemic so had given a lot of thought to what could be possible. "So, when the opportunity arose for a more significant refurbishment, we were in a really good place to move forward quickly. A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this transformation happen so quickly. “We are so pleased with the new unit – it has a completely different look and feel now. It’s given everyone on the team a huge lift and moving back in will hopefully help to draw a line under the pressures we’ve faced over the last 12 months. "It is a really lovely location – modern, bright and airy. After an incredibly challenging year, this is a fantastically positive step forward. “There are so many new changes to the environment that will make a huge difference to patients being cared for in the unit as well as for the staff working there too. "Patients may be with us for many months so by improving the ward in which they will be cared for really does impact on their progress medically and as well as their overall wellbeing. "We now have more natural light, illuminated ceilings and floor to ceiling vistas on the walls for example which can help to reorientate patients and provide a sense of the outside inside. "The intensive care unit is a 24/7 service so we are always busy, but we believe we have created the best possible environment to help people feel as comfortable as possible, looked after and on the road to recovery.”[embed]https://twitter.com/HarrogateNHSFT/status/1372196808521310210[/embed] Some of the improvements have been funded by the Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity thanks to the fundraising efforts of the local community. These include improvements to the lighting to provide soothing scenes for patients while they're receiving treatment, and installing a pull down bed and TV in one of the relatives rooms. The charity have thanked the 'amazing generosity' of their supporters. Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here
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