Great Western Hospital, Swindon
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The Great Western Hospital is a district general hospital which opened in December 2002, replacing the Princess Margaret Hospital in Old Town Swindon. The new buildings offer a clean, modern and fresh environment for patients, visitors and staff, with over 30% of beds provided in single rooms with en-suite facilities.
The Great Western offers a range of services and facilities from a busy Emergency Department, boasting one of the best helipads in the country; a dynamic radiology department; a birthing pool, and ample car parking. The Trust has one of the lowest MRSA infection rates in the country. (Health Protection Agency figures for Oct 05 - Apr 06: top 10% of all hospitals).
Semperian manages the facilities contract which includes:
Estates management and life cycle works
Catering for patients, staff, employees and visitors
Portering, including mail delivery and collection
Cleaning
Security services
Switchboard
24/7 customer help desk
Semperian is also responsible for purchasing utilities, and letting and managing the retail facility on the site, which has a turnover of £1m per annum.
The contract was extended in February 2005, to construct a diagnosis and treatment centre which added 120 beds to the initial 550. In the same year, the Trust, Semperian and Carillion Services jointly won the prestigious British Safety Institute, Sword of Honour Award for Health and Safety. More recently, the Health and Safety Executive has commended Semperian for its strong partnership working with both the Trust and Service Partner.
The Trust gained Foundation status in December 2008 and Semperian is working with them to ensure that its objectives are aligned with theirs in regards to the services supplied. One of these objectives is to ensure maximum flexibility of the space so that the hospital can meet the continuously changing demands and requirements of its patients, staff and visitors. Semperian is able to comply with requests from the Trust to change the space at short notice to help ensure the hospital is running as efficiently as possible at any given time.
With climate change at the top of everyone’s agenda, Semperian is working with the Trust on a number of environmental and sustainability initiatives. We are looking at various projects including the potential to have a wind turbine erected on the site to provide the hospital with its own electricity.