THE ST Mary’s Hospital site has been transformed – in this time of crisis – to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Camp Hill prison beds are being used by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, with the metal frames taken from cells in the ex-category C prison in Newport and transported across the road, to the hospital.
Read more: Camp Hill prison beds used in Isle of Wight coronavirus battle
A temporary marquee sits on a platform more like a festival stage than a medical facility - a now integral part of the Island NHS’s COVID-19 battle plan and designed to be an additional clinical area, supporting the hospital’s Emergency Department.
Image: Coast and Country Marquees
The Isle of Wight NHS Trust’s Laidlaw building has also been converted into extra ward space.
In normal times, Laidlaw serves as an outpatient unit, for those who require diagnosis and rehabilitation.
The coronavirus crisis has seen a huge joint effort, involving Isle of Wight businesses and tradespeople working alongside a military task force, temporarily based here to fast-track the emergency response plan.
Image: Freshwater Fire
Laidlaw is now filled with the former prison beds.
It will not be used for very sick patients, who will be transferred to a more intensive ward, however.
Image: MCM Construction
Soldiers and Islanders have worked shoulder-to-shoulder, to transform the building into usable ward space.
Meanwhile, Coast and Country Marquees provided the huge canvas structure that now stands in the grounds.
Isle of Wight event firm Widget Productions built the scaffold platform on which it sits, and the accessible ramps that lead up to it.
The NHS Trust called it an ‘additional clinical area.’
A Trust spokesperson said: “This will help us treat patients with respiratory problems separately, as this reduces the risk of transmission, and helps protect patients, our staff and the wider community. We want to say thank you to all the organisations involved.”
As the Island went into lockdown, Newport’s MCM Construction stepped out as principal contractor, leading the fit-out of the new ward in the Laidlaw building.
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On-site staff changing rooms have also been installed.
Cowes-based Clarkes Mechanical and Glazing the Island, ETL Electrical Solutions, East Cowes’ Steve Dunford Decorators, South Coast Cooling, Shanklin’s Wessex Fire, Hallams Curtains and Blinds, building firm WH Brading and Son, Pipeline Mechanical, JM Flooring and ACE Scaffolding all played key roles.
Removals company Cowes Movers has been transporting vital kit, while Top Mops has been keeping everything clean.
Image: Freshwater Fire
A sign to Field Hospital Oliveira points the way to the new facilities, as the frontline medical teams continue to fight the virus.
Elsewhere, sites for extra mortuary space are being considered, just weeks after refrigerated shipping containers were stationed at the Isle of Wight Crematorium.
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