Case Study

Case Study

Case Studies

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The Christie NHS Trust

The Christie NHS Trust

Our Client

The Christie NHS Trust is one of the UK’s biggest cancer research and treatment centres, serving over three million people across Greater Manchester and Cheshire with a quarter of patients being referred from across the country. Operating with 2,500 staff, 300 volunteers and 30,000 public members they are one of the largest hospital charities in the UK. The institute is funded by Cancer Research UK, which spends about £22m a year on research in Manchester

The Christie was named, by the National Institute for Health Research, as one of the best hospitals providing patients the opportunity to take part in clinical research studies due to having over 550 active clinical trials.

The Challenge:

In April 2017 the Hospital’s Patterson building was devastated by fire which remained undiscovered for about 30 minutes, enabling it to rage through much of the building and destroy a large quantity of specialist laboratory equipment as well as years’ worth of valuable medical research.

As experts in logistics, storage and laboratory relocations we were called in by Perkin Elmer OneSource, who were project managing this highly complex salavage operation. Perkin Elmer OneSource provide a range of essential laboratory services to pharmaceutical, contract research organisations and other scientific enterprises.

One of the key elements of the project was to remove all the equipment out of the devastated Patterson building to one of our warehouses in the Manchester area, of over 15,000 sq. ft. in size, which we dedicated to this project. This triage area was set up in order to assist with the cleaning, sorting and testing of equipment, which was a delicate, complicated and time consuming operation. From there we mobilised two dedicated teams of experts, including a project manager who was brought in to work closely with Perkin Elmer and other stakeholders which included specialist cleaning teams, loss adjusters and laboratory technicians to accurately inventory every item of equipment and create asset tags. We also designated a case making section in the warehouse for the manufacture of bespoke crates on a call-off basis. In total 650 bespoke crates were manufactured specifically for this project.

From there, the recovered equipment was organised according to whether it would be put into temporary storage or moved to different labs where research could resume.

We also relocated over 300 researchers and support staff to the Alderley Park Bioscience Campus in Cheshire as well as other sites belonging to the Trust so that the unit could continue their research.

Our Solution:

In collaboration with the hospital and Perkin Elmer we set high priority tasks so that we could conduct daily deliveries of checked and recovered items to Alderley Park and other locations so that the histology and bio-chemistry labs could be up and running as quickly as possible. Our teams worked tirelessly in 12-hour shifts throughout the week so that the hospital’s urgent and priceless research could continue to meet their patients’ needs. A critical aspect of our service was to source specific components needed to repair vital instruments. In addition, crucial specimens were transported in their designated freezers, which we kept powered during transit.

Due to the complicated logistics and sheer volume of equipment, the recovery of items affected by the fire took over three months to remove from the Patterson building

To meet stringent compliance standards all materials used were decontaminated and specifically, all wooden crates, which were custom built to manufacturer specifications for each machine, were meticulously cleaned to ensure no loose particles remained that might introduce contaminants.

Items that could not be used by the hospital at their temporary locations were allocated to long term storage using our local storage facility until the new Patterson building is ready to house the research centre once more.

The Outcome:

This mammoth and highly complex project took over a year to complete, during which time, we expertly moved a vast quantity of highly sensitive and valuable laboratory equipment, with deliveries to temporary locations including Alderley Park.

We worked to tight time constraints on each phase including delayed building works which affected our plans. Never-the-less, we ensured that there was minimal downtime to the pivotal reasearch work being undertaken by the scientists.

We also cleared and disposed of a substantial quantity of debris created by the damage, including a number of items that were beyond repair.

The last part of this massive and unique undertaking will be completed when the new Patterson building is ready to occupy again, and we wil return every item from its temporary location and storage back to the new facility.

Project Details


Sector:
Healthcare

Organisation:
The Christie NHS Trust

Location:
Manchester


What We Did:

  • One of the key elements of the project was to remove all the equipment out of the devastated Patterson building to one of our warehouses in the Manchester area, of over 15,000 sq. ft
  • Relocated over 300 researchers and support staff to the Alderley Park Bioscience Campus in Cheshire
  • To meet stringent compliance standards all materials used were decontaminated and specifically, all wooden crates, which were custom built to manufacturer specifications for each machine, were meticulously cleaned to ensure no loose particles remained that might introduce contaminants.

Client Feedback

I just wanted to say what a wonderful job the Restore Harrow Green guys did today. They gave up their Saturday, grafted like troopers and were incredibly professional. They blitzed the entire job so we are ready for Monday! Thanks to everyone involved in getting us to this point.

Duncan Smith
CRUK Lab Owner