Fit-out and refurbishment specialist contractor, Willmott Dixon Interiors has been appointed to deliver the extension and internal refurbishment of the emergency department of Conquest Hospital in Hastings, East Sussex.

The £2.7 million project, on behalf of East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, will create new clinical and non-clinical space and is part of a wider strategy to care for Covid-19 positive inpatients.

The new design will reconfigure secondary underused waiting space to deliver a new clinical treatment cluster - including a separate paediatric treatment and waiting area - and increase the number of treatment spaces from 17 to 27.

An area of land adjacent to the existing emergency department has been allocated for an extension of the facility, which will house both patients and administrative staff.

Awarded by the Procurement Hub Major Projects Framework, it is the second recent project to be delivered by Willmott Dixon Interiors for East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, following the contractor’s refurbishment of a former maternity ward at Eastbourne General District Hospital.

Clare Moore, client relationship manager at Procurement Hub, said:

"We are pleased to be able to support East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust in this important project at Conquest Hospital in Hastings, East Sussex via our Major Projects Framework. Willmott Dixon Interiors expertise in Bluelight and Healthcare projects will ensure this project is completed safely and as quickly as possible to ensure the Trust can continue their excellent work for the local community."

Graham Shaw, managing director at Willmott Dixon Interiors, said:

“The Trust has had to make a number of changes during the course of the pandemic, to make sure that it can continue to provide the best possible care to those who most need it. This project will create more clinical areas and deliver a much larger space within the emergency department of Conquest Hospital, which will allow NHS staff to separate Covid-19 patients more easily. Our team is highly experienced in the delivery of blue light construction projects and we will be undertaking works as quickly and as safely as possible to minimise disruption for staff and patients.”

The project will be delivered by Willmott Dixon Interiors and a team including architect, Murphy Philipps Associates LLP; project manager, Currie & Brown; and structural engineer, Gyoury Self.