Great Western Hospital
Encyclopedia
Great Western Hospital is a large hospital
situated in Swindon
, Wiltshire
, England
, next to junction 15 of the M4 motorway
.
frame design. Flat slab concrete
floors 30 cm (12 in) deep are supported by a nominal 7.2 m (23.6 ft) square grid of concrete columns. The outside of the building is covered in 7600 m2 (81,800 sq ft) of cream coloured precast concrete cladding panels which each weigh 14 tonnes and span 7 m (23 ft) x 4 m (13 ft). They attempt to replicate the appearance of Wiltshire stone. There are six floors comprising a total of 55,000 m2 of floor space.
The hospital was one of the first to be built under the Private Finance Initiative
at a cost of £
148 m, with Carillion as the lead contractor.
on 28 February 2003.
which sees approximately 50,000 patients per year, an Acute Assessment Unit
, an eight bedded Intensive Care Unit
, an intermediate care centre on site, a health and social care education centre called the academy, and a wide range of wards and clinics, including 400 in-patient beds, serving approximately 300,000 people.
The hospital was one of the first to use the Picture archiving and communication system
film-less x-rays, as part of the NHS's National Programme for IT.
for 2005/2006 the trust scored "good" for the quality of services but "weak" for the management of resources.
In 2006 it was announced that the hospital would be axing up to 200 jobs, 99 of which were likely to involve redundancy.
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
situated in Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, next to junction 15 of the M4 motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
.
Building
The architect was Whicheloe Macfarlane, who designed the hospital with a concreteConcrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
frame design. Flat slab concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
floors 30 cm (12 in) deep are supported by a nominal 7.2 m (23.6 ft) square grid of concrete columns. The outside of the building is covered in 7600 m2 (81,800 sq ft) of cream coloured precast concrete cladding panels which each weigh 14 tonnes and span 7 m (23 ft) x 4 m (13 ft). They attempt to replicate the appearance of Wiltshire stone. There are six floors comprising a total of 55,000 m2 of floor space.
The hospital was one of the first to be built under the Private Finance Initiative
Private Finance Initiative
The private finance initiative is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital...
at a cost of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
148 m, with Carillion as the lead contractor.
Opening
The hospital opened in 2002 to replace the services previously provided at the Princess Margaret Hospital, which had served the town since 1959. It was formally opened by HRH Prince PhilipPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
on 28 February 2003.
Facilities
The facilities at the hospital include an accident and emergency departmentEmergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
which sees approximately 50,000 patients per year, an Acute Assessment Unit
Acute Assessment Unit
An acute assessment unit, or acute admissions unit, is a short-stay department in some hospitals that is sometimes part of the emergency department, although a separate department. The AAU acts as a gateway between a patient's general practitioner, the emergency department, and the wards of the...
, an eight bedded Intensive Care Unit
Intensive Care Unit
thumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...
, an intermediate care centre on site, a health and social care education centre called the academy, and a wide range of wards and clinics, including 400 in-patient beds, serving approximately 300,000 people.
The hospital was one of the first to use the Picture archiving and communication system
Picture archiving and communication system
A picture archiving and communication system is a medical imaging technology which provides economical storage of, and convenient access to, images from multiple modalities . Electronic images and reports are transmitted digitally via PACS; this eliminates the need to manually file, retrieve, or...
film-less x-rays, as part of the NHS's National Programme for IT.
Performance
In the ratings produced by the Healthcare CommissionHealthcare Commission
The Healthcare Commission was a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom. It was set up to promote and drive improvement in the quality of health care and public health in England and Wales...
for 2005/2006 the trust scored "good" for the quality of services but "weak" for the management of resources.
In 2006 it was announced that the hospital would be axing up to 200 jobs, 99 of which were likely to involve redundancy.