Merit

The long awaited, new £35 million Berwick hospital is being built one year quicker compared to traditional methods of construction by using offsite proprietary integrated platform technology.

Leading industrialised construction and manufacturing specialistMerit, based in Northumberland, has work well underway on the new hospital at its offsite manufacturing factory in Cramlington.

The Merit approach also offers a zero carbon emissions-design, class leading lower energy consumption, enhanced infection control and is technically enabled for the future of health care.

The factory recently played host to a visit from Berwick’s MP, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, and nearby Blyth Valley MP, Ian Levy, enabling them to see for themselves the construction of Berwick hospital. They were able to view the start of the build of the 800+ pre-assembled modules (PAMs) and 17 UltraPODs® that will be delivered to site to form part of the state-of-the-art building.

The parliamentarians also received a demonstration of Merit’s factory robot, just one of the Industry 4.0 initiatives in progress along with computer numerical control (CNC) technology, automation and digitalisation.

Tony Wells, CEO at Merit said: “We are delighted to be working closely with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management (NHFM) to build the new Berwick hospital which will be completed by late 2024.

“It was great to welcome Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP and Ian Levy MP to our factory to show them the work being done on the region’s newest hospital and to explain how different manufacturing processes are being used to improve productivity.

“We believe that on a larger scale, this solution will bring affordability to the NHS with hospitals being built significantly faster with cost certainty.”

Rt Hon Anne- Marie Trevelyan, MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed said: “It’s really exciting to see the work being done on Berwick’s new hospital and it’s amazing that this area of the country will be the first to benefit from this modern solution to healthcare.”

Marion Dickson, Northumbria Healthcare’s executive director for nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals and project leadsaid: “We’re very impressed with Merit’s offsite manufacturing capabilities which can fortunately bypass any bad weather and provide quicker solutions to the build of our new hospital.

“Our new hospital will not only provide high quality healthcare well into the future but will also provide a much-improved environment for our staff and patients, enable additional services to be provided and support staff recruitment and retention. It will be something that Berwick, Northumberland, and the North East, can be very proud of!”

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Contact: Alex Dryden, Recognition PR 01325 363 436

Merit

Merit is the UK’s leading industrialised construction and manufacturing specialistand prides itself on its ability to design and engineer-controlled environment solutions for the healthcare, bioscience, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, aviation and nuclear sectors. Specialising in the delivery of complex cleanroom construction and M&E services that require stringent regulatory approvals.

Headquartered in Northumberland, it employs more than 300 people in the UK and owns further facilities in London and Scotland. For further information visit www.merit.co.uk

Merit Health

Merit Health is the dedicated healthcare and life sciences division of leading industrialised construction and manufacturing specialist, Merit. It delivers high-quality hospitals, laboratories and manufacturing facilities, in half the time, with lower build and maintenance costs. Merit Health’s buildings address the need for improved infection control, adaptability and sustainability by healthcare and life sciences market players, such as hospitals, laboratories, vaccine and advance therapy manufacturers.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest trusts in the country geographically, providing services to more than 500,000 people across Northumberland and North Tyneside. Our staff provide care in hospitals, in the community and in people’s own homes.

Our facilities include a specialist emergency care hospital – The Northumbria at Cramlington; general hospitals at Hexham, North Tyneside and Wansbeck (Ashington); community hospitals at Alnwick, Berwick, Rothbury and Blyth; an integrated health and social care facility at Haltwhistle; an outpatient and diagnostic centre at Morpeth; and sexual health centres in North Tyneside and Northumberland.

We are one of the North East’s largest employers with around 11,500 dedicated members of staff and have been rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission twice since 2016