Gloucestershire Managed Services (GMS) has taken receipt of a new £4.5m hospital ward specialising in care of the elderly (COTE).

The facilities management company has taken control of many aspects of non-clinical activities within the newly constructed Gallery Wing at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital (GRH). The transition of support services into the new space has run smoothly and patients and staff have already settled into their new environment.

Keith Hamer, Managing Director, said: “The GMS teams are proud to be a key partner to Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the delivery of this modern, state-of-the-art clinical environment.

“Across both our hospital sites at Gloucester and Cheltenham we are continuing to play an important role in supporting better patient care, and enabling the Trust to deliver on its ‘centres of excellence’ vision, through the delivery of vitally important support services to ensure we’re providing the very best possible environment for patients to recover and clinicians to excel.” 

GMS is playing a pivotal role in supporting the hospitals £100m-plus capital investment programme to deliver centres of excellence at GRH and Cheltenham General Hospital.

Gallery Ward 2, at GRH, is a new state-of-the-art 24-bedded ward, and will deliver care for the elderly including those with dementia and who are acutely frail. The ward boasts four four-bedded bays, eight side rooms, dedicated ensuites, a new lift as well as a new staff room, pantry for cooking and cleaning and dedicated storage. The ward is also kitted out with new furniture, bedside USB portals for electronic devices and the latest technology to monitor patients. Each bay is colour coded as are the ensuite toilets which is proven to help people with dementia in navigating their way to and from their beds. 

Professor Mark Pietroni, Medical Director and Interim Chief Executive, added: “Providing a safe and effective environment for patients is vital to a speedy recovery and the work that GMS continues to do in this area is so important to meet patient needs. We are extremely fortunate to be served by such a specialist and knowledgeable team.”