This NHS 24 call centre has been established on the second and third floors of the Lumina Building in Hillington Park, Glasgow. A comprehensive fit-out of the commercial suites now provides a vital tool for the emergency services, offering urgent-care advice via its 111 number day or night.
The Lumina NHS 24 facilities are configured to meet various staffing requirements, from open-plan desk areas to cellular offices and meeting rooms. The project included installation of a complete IT infrastructure and a state-of-the-art communications room. Mechanical and electrical services included new air conditioning and ventilation, rooftop works and external generator installations.
The successful implementation has allowed an increase in the number of NHS 24 staff providing healthcare advice across Scotland.
Comprehensive service for commercial office fit-out
Thomson Gray fulfilled a number of roles on this project, acting as lead advisor, project manager, building surveyor, contract administrator, principal designer and quantity surveyor. We were therefore able to offer the client a kind of ‘one-stop shop’ that leveraged all the advantages to be gained from in-house coordination and teamwork.
We were involved from the initial stages right through to snagging and close-out, including pre-acquisition survey, procurement advice, management of sub-consultants and the multidisciplinary team, statutory consent applications and construction management.
Varied challenges
A particular challenge was the number of stakeholders associated with the project, including a hierarchy of clients, the building’s landlord and the landlord’s agent – a situation further complicated by the fact that the agent changed during the project.
To add to this, the outbreak of the COVID pandemic and the subsequent lockdown brought increased pressure for additional call-handling resources. As a result, the decision was taken to fast-track the project in order to achieve operational readiness before the winter upturn in cases.
These challenges were met and overcome through good stakeholder management, clear communication, meaningful look-ahead sessions, regular meetings with the contractor and strict control of the programme by our project management team – all of which were made easier by our broad remit on the job.
20 years and counting
Welcoming new staff in August 2021, in plenty of time for the winter period, the Hillington Park centre was officially opened by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in May 2022 – a date that also marked the 20th anniversary of the initial launch of the NHS 24 service.
CREDITS
Contractor FES Group
Services Engineer FES Group
Structural Engineer FES Group
Lead Advisor Thomson Gray
Project Manager Thomson Gray
Building Surveyor Thomson Gray
Contract Administrator Thomson Gray
Principal Designer Thomson Gray
Quantity Surveyor Thomson Gray
Images Paul Zanre
