Hammersmith Hospital IPS/UPS

Hammersmith Hospital IPS/UPS

Playfords were engaged as the principal contractor to provide a replacement power system into the main Operating Theatres at Hammersmith Hospital within the A Block. The main objectives were to replace the existing unprotected system with new IPS/UPS protected sockets to the Pedestals units and at the bed heads within the recovery area.

A new UPS/IPS switchroom had to be constructed utilising some space within the existing the 3rd floor plant room. The room required demolition of existing partition walls and the construction of new walls to create the room required. All works had to be completed with no disruption to the operating procedures located on the floor below our working site. The room also contains climate controlled air conditioning to increase the life span of the UPS battery system.

Power supplies to the main UPS Input/output switchboards are from 3no splitter installed to the 3rd floor. From there A&B supplies are to the main UPS Input/output switchboards. A further 3rd supply to each switchboard is installed to give further generator support so as to have a fully Robust power provision to the Operating Theatres. As within all hospital environments space is of a premium and the room required careful co-ordination with all services to ensure 2no UPS units complete with battery racks; 2no LV switchboards and the 5no dual IPS transformer units could be positioned, commissioned and future maintenance was not compromised.

In order to get all of the equipment to the 3rd floor all equipment was delivered on a sequence of early mornings so as not to disturb the normal daily deliveries required for the normal operation of the area. Careful consideration was required on weight distribution as circa 7 tonnes of UPS units, battery racks and LV switchboards needed to be landed in a small floor area.

All of the works to the 2nd floor had to be completed out of normal working hours due to the nature of the operating theatres. Keeping all areas clean was critical as the operating theatres remained in service during the entire duration of the initial first fix of equipment throughout the corridor areas. Clearing all debris and dust immediately was a major factor in successfully completing the installation. All working was required in zones and cleared upon completion as at any given time the operating theatres may have been required for emergency operations. The second fix in to the actual operating theatres had to be completed over a sequence of weekend shutdowns rotating the theatres to ensure the hospital always retained a number of theatres in service at any time. With careful planning of all required works the system has been completed with minimal disruption to the normal logistics of the department.

The entire new system is backed up by remote monitoring of the IPS and UPS systems. Remote indication of the system status is provided to both the Operating Theatres Nurse Station and also the Recovery Bay Nurse Station. In addition to this, remote monitoring of the power supply system is presented adjacent to each operating theatre to provide live information direct to the surgeons and staff within the theatre.

To finalise the system a fully integrated BMS system was provided to report on the current position of the newly installed equipment. This system comprised of new outstations located within close proximity to the new LV switchboards. These units have been placed on the site network for BMS and report back to the Facilities Management of the current status of the equipment.

Playfords as the principal contractor was responsible for all of the Health and Safety management, site co-ordination along with management of all the specialist sub-contractors. The project was completed with zero injuries/accidents.