Pendleton Gateway, part of MaST Estates Partnership building portfolio, accommodates the only X-Ray facilities outside Salford Royal’s main hospital site in the city, and is consequently a very busy and strategically important department for Salford’s health strategy.
Pendleton Gateway opened in February 2009 and the original X-Ray facilities have been heavily used ever since. As the years have passed an increasing number of maintenance issues have occurred. In response, the Northern Care Alliance (NCA) committed in 2022 to replacing the original X-Ray machine with a new one to minimise any service disruptions and enable the department to increase the volume of work they can carry out and improve the experience for patients.
The project was a complex one as the X-Ray Room in it’s original format wasn’t capable of accommodating the new Agfa machine. Consequently, the X-Ray Room at Pendleton Gateway had to be extensively altered and refurbished to enable the new machine to be installed.
A project group was formed led by Joanne Hitchen from Community Health Partnerships, which included gbpartnerships - working on behalf of MaST estates Partnership, FES (Facilities Management contractor), the NCA, Agfa and Salford City Council. The project group planned the work from beginning to end and FES created the work schedules and oversaw all works carried out, including the removal of the existing X-Ray machine, extensive enabling works to the X-Ray Room through to the installation, testing and commissioning of the new machine.
A huge number of people from multiple organisations were involved in the project over a 12 month period, from NCA and Agfa colleagues through to electricians, decorators, flooring contractors and drivers. Whilst pulling all the people and their relevant skills together at the required points was a huge logistical challenge, with various elements not quite going to plan as frequently happens with projects of this complexity, the project team did an excellent job in guiding the work through to its successful completion and the department re-opened to patients in May 2023.
Feedback from both patients and staff about the new facilities has been extremely positive, and they will benefit the people of Salford and Greater Manchester for many years to come. The new facilities have also enabled the department to change the way they deliver their service: prior to the new machine being installed, they operated on an appointment-only basis, but since the installation of the new equipment, they now offer a drop-in service which has proved to be extremely popular with patients as they can just turn up at their convenience for an x-ray, which has also reduced administration for staff.
The new X-Ray Room at Pendleton Gateway
