Six new air handling units will serve the gynaecology theatres and recovery, the delivery suites, and the neonatal high and low dependency units, across two floors. Alongside them, there will be a new UPS system in the neonatal unit, and a section of the maternity roof is being replaced. Completion is forecast for summer 2027.
The £5.36m main contract to replace the air handling units was awarded to MTX Contracts Ltd, which is also delivering the new Surgical Elective Centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital.
The capital investment is supported by the government’s national Estates Safety Programme, with Public Dividend Capital awarded by the DHSC and allocated confirmed by NHS England. A further £437,500 from OUH’s capital programme is funding the maternity roof replacement.
Each air handling unit will recover at least 75 per cent of the heat from the air it exhausts and has heating and cooling coils to temper the incoming air, high-grade filtration, and standby fans so that a single failure does not take a clinical area out of use.
The new system will provide air change rates that meet current standards: 22 per hour in the operating theatres, 15 per hour in anaesthetic rooms and recovery, and 10 per hour in the delivery rooms and nursery. The critical care areas are given fully independent systems rather than sharing or using general building supply.
The heat recovery is expected to reduce gas use and carbon emission. An early scoping estimate put the potential saving in the region of 1,100 megawatt hours of gas, calculated for a wider scheme than the one now being delivered.
The neonatal unit will also have an isolated power supply, which protects against electrical faults in areas where equipment is connected directly to patients, and an uninterruptible power supply, which means that in the event of a mains failure critical equipment it does not lose power for even an instant.
Lisa Hofen, chief estates and facilities officer, said: “The Women’s Centre is the oldest clinical building on the John Radcliffe Hospital site, and this work is essential to maintaining a safe, comfortable, and resilient environment for our patients, many of whom are in their first few hours of life. The project also supports the Trust’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and achieving Net Zero.
“Most of the infrastructure being upgraded is hidden from view, but its impact will be felt for decades, supporting the care of women and babies well into the future.”