Supplying urgent electrical works during Covid for Hillingdon NHS Trust
2020 was a tough year for all of us; not least of all for the key workers at the NHS.
Doctors, nurses and health professionals across the country found themselves treating thousands of critical Covid patients – all while protecting their existing patients and juggling their already stressful day-to-day work schedules.
So when the Hillingdon NHS Hospital Foundation Trust needed help with bolstering their Hillingdon and Mount Vernon hospitals’ Covid treatment facilities, the JC Electrical UK team were more than happy to help.
The problems
To help prevent the spread of Covid and to protect the wellbeing of their nursing staff, the trust were looking to install a number of new temporary facilities at their hospitals, including:
- Isolated, secure-access ‘red zones’ for Covid patient care
- Dedicated exit pathways to keep entry/lobby areas safe
- External decontamination shower blocks and respite areas for staff
JC Electrical UK were tasked with sourcing and installing electrical infrastructure to deliver power and lighting to these temporary areas; as well as servicing existing door entry systems to prevent unauthorised access to red zone areas.
In addition, the increased patient numbers also placed more strain on the hospitals’ existing electrical and network infrastructure; which meant the trust occasionally required rapid reactive maintenance to keep everything running smoothly.
Why Hillingdon NHS Trust chose us
As local electrical engineers to the Uxbridge area, we’d already built up a strong working relationship with the Hillingdon NHS Trust over the past five years; including a three-year contract to test and upgrade the hospitals’ emergency lighting and outdoor street lighting systems.
Our team had a good working knowledge of both sites, and the trust’s staff knew we could be counted on to complete the required works quickly, discreetly and at short notice.
Since we were a local firm, they could also rely on us for strong post-installation aftercare and future electrical works; essential for keeping up with the rapidly-evolving nature of the Covid crisis.
The challenges faced
Naturally, carrying out our usual services while maintaining Covid safety has been a challenge for all our projects over the past year – but these particular works came with their own set of extra challenges on top.
Not only did our team have to contend with preventing Covid contamination and transmission, but we also had to:
- prevent our work from obstructing the life-saving care of nursing staff
- provide rapid project turnarounds, ranging from a few hours to a few days
- maintain safe access to working areas within Covid-restricted zones
- remain responsive to the developing scope of each project; which often changed from one hour to the next
- work alongside busy, exhausted staff and sick, anxious patients; without creating further stresses for them
To make matters worse, our team also had to navigate supply issues; with several materials wholesalers shuttering due to the business and financial impacts of the pandemic (on top of the additional market pressures of a looming Brexit).
Thankfully, since our team were essentially key workers providing crucial work for the NHS, we were able to secure a supply partnership with Harrow-based electrical wholesalers Grant & Stone . We’d like to thank their stand-in manager Kenny Stone for helping us close the supply chain gap and complete the works within the narrow timescales!
JC Electrical UK wishes the best for Hillingdon Trust team and all our key healthcare workers across the country during these difficult times; and here’s to a better year in 2021!
NICEIC Approved Electricians + Registered Competent Person
