New Critical Care building and Education Centre officially opened

Oxford Critical Care, Oxford University Hospitals' (OUH) new critical care building, was officially opened on Thursday 22 June.

Based on the John Radcliffe Hospital site in Oxford, the £29m building is supported by Department of Health and Social Care financing and is part of a regional approach for managing critical care demand, as well as supportive and alleviating future seasonal or pandemic-related pressures.

Dr Vaughan Lewis, Regional Medical Director for NHS England in the South East, cut the ribbon to officially open Oxford Critical Care which opened its doors to patients in 2022.

The building helps OUH staff to provide specialist and critical care by:

• Providing an improved clinical care environment for both patients and staff
• providing critical care capacity for both the Trust and the South East
• reducing pre-operative waits
• improving infection prevention and control.

Professor Meghana Pandit, Chief Executive Officer at OUH, said: "We pride ourselves on the outstanding critical care we give to our sickest patients. Critical care is always incredibly important to OUH, and never more so than during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"It has been so impressive to see such a complex project come to fruition so quickly, and also everyone's commitment to working together on training and familiarisation in order to provide seamless patient care. This project may have started during the pandemic, but it is ultimately for our future, too - the building will allow us to plan for future pandemic and seasonal peaks and alleviate the pressure across many other services."

Oxford Hospitals Education Centre is located on level 5 of Oxford Critical Care for the use of all OUH staff, and was also officially opened on Thursday 22 June.

Funding from Oxford Hospitals Charity supported the creation of the centre, and Chair of the charity Professor David Matthews was joined by Kirstie Jones, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals Education at OUH, to cut the ribbon.

Douglas Graham, Chief Executive of Oxford Hospitals Charity, said: "Teaching is at the heart of the NHS and one of the charity's core areas of support for the OUH, and so we are delighted to support this important centre that gives OUH staff access to a first-class facility.

"We know from talking to staff that have already used the centre how enthusiastic they are about this very special new space and what a difference it is already making."

Jason Dorsett, Chief Finance Officer and Executive Lead for Estates, Capital, and PFI at OUH, said: "As a major teaching trust, education is a vital part of our patient care and staff development. I'm very pleased that we have a dedicated facility for this, which will provide a space for our staff to both carry out and take part in teaching and education."

Pictured left to right: Dr Anny Sykes (Interim Chief Medical Officer, OUH), Alexia Douglass (Deputy Matron, OUH), Lyn Bennett (Clinical Programme Manager, OUH), Dr Vaughan Lewis (Regional Medical Director for NHS England, South East), Craig Merrifield (Senior Project Manager, OUH), Charmaine Hope (Director of Estates, Facilities and Capital Development, OUH) during the ribbon cutting of Oxford Critical Care.