Lancashire Teaching Hospitals has awarded a contract to refurbish the Ribblesdale Oncology Ward at Royal Preston Hospital to Interserve Construction.

The international support services, construction and equipment group Interserve Group Limited has been awarded the contract as a result of their recent success in delivering Ward 5 to support the Trust’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Advertisements

Read more: New policy for supported tenancies announced following public consultation

The Ribblesdale Ward is the only inpatient oncology specific ward in Lancashire and South Cumbria, and supports patients with a wide range of complex oncology needs, whilst also providing end of life care.

The new 24-bed ward will provide a more aesthetically pleasing and comfortable environment for patients and their loved ones.

The project will receive £1,000,000 of funding from the Rosemere Cancer Foundation, following its hugely successful 20^th Anniversary Appeal that also raised £1,250,000 towards the purchase of the Trust’s state-of-the-art Da Vinci surgical robotic system.

Read more: Police and Crime Commissioner calls for more action to protect children online

Interserve has pledged to support the charity to raise additional funds outside of the budget to further enhance the patient experience. This will be achieved using virtual fundraising methods in response to COVID-19. 

Karen Partington, Chief Executive at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have an excellent working relationship with the Interserve Construction team, and we were really impressed by the project they delivered on Ward 5 to help us to prepare for the pandemic.

“We have every faith that the refurbishment of Ribblesdale Ward will go a long way to bettering the working environment for our staff and the standards of care we are able to provide for our patients.

“We are really looking forward to working with Interserve Construction again and can’t wait to see the newly refurbished facilities that our staff and patients so deserve.”

Read more: Group takes on Guild Wheel to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy UK

Dan Hill, Chief Officer at the Rosemere Cancer Foundation, said: “The Rosemere Cancer Foundation’s main objective is to improve the care available to cancer patients in our community and their loved ones.

“It made complete sense to us to show our support for this project, as the cancer services and end of life care we support are already so strong.

“We look forward to seeing the new ward, and we hope the improvements provide a great deal of comfort to our patients and their family and friends in what are extremely difficult times.”

Interserve will deliver the project in just five months, with the same team who worked on the refurbishment of Ward 5.

See the latest coronavirus updates in your area below

Phil Shaw, Divisional Director at Interserve Construction, said: “The Interserve team at Royal Preston Hospital did an outstanding job delivering Ward 5 at short notice.

“The award of the Ribblesdale Oncology Ward demonstrates the Trust’s confidence in our expertise and capabilities to support the NHS.

“As a long-term contractor to the NHS, under several framework agreements, we bring considerable experience and wide-ranging capabilities to deliver even at the shortest notice as witnessed by our work in Preston and at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.”

Advertisements

Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines

What do you think of the planned refurbishments? Share your thoughts in the comments below.