Hygienic Hospital Flooring for NHS Sterilising Room

With the current global pandemic impacting on every aspect of our lives, it has never been more important to ensure that hospital equipment is cleaned and sterilised to the required high standards. Keeping the transmission of COVID-19 to an absolute minimum is critical within the healthcare environment, and medical-grade flooring plays an important role here.

Seamless hygienic hospital flooring requirement

The team at Ultrasyntec was requested to put together a specification and installation time frame to create a seamless hygienic hospital flooring system complete with a drainage system designed to remove both surface water and discharged water from a new state of the art sterilising machine at an NHS hospital in West Yorkshire.

With many different issues to be taken into account for this project, including time restraints on working hours, the potential for chemical attack from the washing detergents used in the process and many more, this particular job required meticulous planning prior to commencement.

5 day shutdown period

Following detailed consultation between Ultrasyntec and the NHS team, a shutdown period of five days was agreed. Under normal circumstances, this would have been considered unachievable, but faced with the challenges of the pandemic, the Ultrasyntec team undertook to make it work.

The first task was to prepare the floor and remove all existing floor coverings, then to dig out the drainage channels. The team manned two shifts over a 24 hour period, and by the second day, all the stainless steel drains had been installed, alongside the other utilities.

Two shift working pattern

Other trades then began their individual work, completing this over a 48 hour period and maintaining the two-shift pattern to keep to schedule. Working in conjunction with these other trades, the Ultrasyntec team then began to apply the flooring.

The specification had been designed to combat the high volume of traffic in this area, as well as the harsh chemicals used by the sterilising equipment. First, a damp-proof primer was applied to mitigate any remaining moisture in the newly laid C55 fast cure concrete selected as the base hospital floor material. This was followed by a 6mm heavy-duty polyurethane screed, then a 100mm high coved skirting.

Chemical resistant flooring

With only one day of the shutdown remaining, the entire floor was coated using a UV-stable, chemically resistant seal coat, designed to protect against the harshest conditions.

The handover was completed on time and the new sterilising room was commissioned on the Saturday morning, immediately after the new machines started their predicted 25-year cycle.

This was a particularly challenging project managed within a rigorous timescale, and the team from Ultrasyntec, played an important part in ensuring its success.