Gilbert Bain building work moves to final stage
NHS Shetland is entering the final phase of the current planned building programme at the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick. Work started this week on building a second storey link corridor between Ward 3 and the newly refurbished Ronas Ward at the other side of the hospital site.
Over the coming three months, a steel frame and sheet wall structure will be built on top of the existing first floor corridor, enabling more options for movement of patients between the wards in the unlikely event of an emergency or during times of passenger lift servicing or breakdown. Additional accommodation will also be provided as part of this phase of the capital programme.
The unusual sight of a very large crane will be visible to all in the surrounding area, initially at the rear of the hospital site and for a brief period at the front on the Cairnfield Road side. The crane will be lifting the sections of the steel framework and all other materials onto the roof of the hospital for the contractors to erect.
Local firm DITT is the main contractor for the building works. NHS Shetland’s capital projects manager Lawson Bisset said: “The commencement of these works represents months of planning and negotiation with contractors and sub-contractors. Moving and lifting large quantities of materials onto the roof of the hospital has proved a logistical challenge to all involved and we have been working hard with contractors, staff, safety experts and others to ensure that the building of this structure is done with the minimum of disruption to operation of the hospital site and with the least amount of disturbance to patients and local residents.”
NHS Shetland’s director of clinical services, Simon Bokor-Ingram, added: “This is the final stage of what has been a challenging capital building programme on the Gilbert Bain site over the last few years and will provide much needed additional accommodation for clinicians as well as options for moving patients and staff around the site.”
