The newly built Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot has come to end of its journey to completion after a six year journey to replace the existing structure.

Seven months ago, the hospital celebrated it’s official opening of the state-of-the-art building, and now it has been classed among the ‘very best in the country’ offering care to the local community.

Kier Group, construction company has reflected on the journey and budding relationship that they have had with Frimley Health throughout the Heatherwood project.

Isabel Mostyn Trust Senior Project Manager, Capital at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust: This project is the end of a six year journey that we’ve been working very closely with the same Kier Project team we started on women’s services at Wexham through to the emergency assessment centre and then on to this massive project.

So, I was lucky we have already built a good relationship with Trust working for them for three years before we move to this project so in a sense this was a very well performing team very well bound team.

The existing structure of the old Heatherwood Hospital, located at the roundabout in Ascot was closed at the beginning of 2021 when the doors of the new facility opened and is set to be demolished in the near future.

Ms Mostyn added: “The existing hospital is in not a great state so this is going to represent a huge change to the local community, a massive step change for all the nursing and clinical staff and hopefully it will be very well received by everybody, patients and staff alike.”

“If you look at the design of the existing hospital it’s looking very tired I think what’s been achieved is something quite special, so special for the community special for the NHS and a stunning building overall,” said Andrew Thorp, NEC Project Manager, Associate Director Potter Raper.

The new development was initially created to provide a enhanced facility for the local community where everything is under one roof.

Katharine Horsfall, Associate Director of Heatherwood Hospital Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust explained: “The patient experience is really enhanced by such a fabulous, new, modern, state-of-the-art building which is designed for elective care in the current century.

“This new development on the Heatherwood site in Ascot is a really much needed program for the local community.

“So, in the new hospital everything is under one roof so the journey times for patients are considerably reduced.

Nadeem Chaudhry, the Project Director for Kier development explained: “Two years ago I was standing on the road and looking at a 21 meter sloping hill full of tree trunks and thinking how we’re going to do it.

“In a year’s time we did about 30,000 meter cube of cut and fill numerous retaining walls to bring this area bring it into shape.

“We were fortunate with the global pandemic but we adapted very quickly, adopted the procedures, new ways of working and we did not stop the project for a single day so this only happens when you have a very well-bound performing team on the project.”