Rayleigh and Wickford MP Mark Francois enjoyed a great view of the centre of Essex when he stood on the new helipad on the roof of the recently constructed wing at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. Mark was visiting the new wing, constructed under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to see the extension of capacity that this provides to the hospital, which is used by a number of Mark’s constituents in Rayleigh and Wickford.
Mark was taken on a tour of the new wing by staff at the hospital led by Sheila Salmon, Chairman of the Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust. As part of the tour, Mark saw the new maternity and surgical units which had been incorporated into the wing as well as a number of new wards which are designed to provide everything from generalised to highly specialised nursing care.
The wing itself is now open for business and the new helipad on the roof is designed to allow rapid access for patients who would be brought to the hospital by the Essex Air Ambulance and then taken down a specially constructed ramp into the lifts which come out opposite the operating theatres. This is all designed to minimise the time to get critically ill patients from the air ambulance into the operating theatre if necessary.
Commenting on his recent visit to Broomfield Hospital, Mark Francois said:
“The new facilities at Broomfield are really impressive and I was particularly struck by the very careful thought which has been given to the layout to the extension to the hospital, to use the space as efficiently as possible and amongst other things to help combat the spread of hospital acquired infections.
In addition, as someone who admires the Essex Air Ambulance and the work which they do for the people of the county, I was also impressed by the thought that has gone into the construction of the new helipad, so that patients can be transported from the air ambulance to the theatre as rapidly as possible.
I am sure that this extension to Broomfield will be an asset to my constituents and indeed to people across the county of Essex and I wish all the staff at Broomfield all the very best for the future.”