Steel completes for Kent ambulance centre

Structural steelwork erection for the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) NHS Foundation Trust’s new multi-purpose ambulance, 999 and NHS 111 centre in Gillingham has been completed.

Working on behalf of main contractor Westridge Construction, Mifflin Construction fabricated, supplied and erected 300t of steelwork for the project.

The four-storey steel-framed building will accommodate SECAmb’s Make Ready vehicle preparation and maintenance system on the two lower floors, while staff currently based at the Trust’s East 999 Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Coxheath and Trust NHS 111 staff, currently based in Ashford, Kent, will benefit from modern open-plan offices on the two floors above.

SECAmb Executive Director of Operations Emma Williams said: “It’s really great that building work is now under way on this important development. Our current building at Coxheath is outdated and not adequate for our requirements. Having operations centres for 999 and 111 under one roof will ensure we further optimise functions between the services.

“The new centre provides us with greater capacity, means we can improve the ratio of 999 call taking across our two EOCs and will bring local recruitment opportunities for people across both 999 and 111 services.”

SECAmb Associate Director of Contact Centres and Integrated Care, John J O’Sullivan says: “Our current Emergency Operations Centre for the East of our region is outdated, lacks space and is no longer fit for purpose. In addition, bringing our 999 and 111 operations under one roof provides us with greater resilience and enables the two services to work more closely together to benefit patients across our whole region.”