Dorset County Hospital Masterplanning
Location
Dorchester
Client
Dorset County Hospital
Area
Rural
Funding
Private
Proactively engaging with stakeholders to deliver a new solution-focused parking and wayfinding project.
In the first project to be launched to enable the strategic estate masterplan, Prime is proud to be partnering with Dorset County Hospital (DCH) to help develop site improvements and enhance the experience of all hospital visitors.
With too few parking spaces to service the needs of patients, staff and visitors and a confusing car parking layout, the hospital is congested and, finding a space once parked is difficult. With Prime’s experience, these challenges are being solved and new opportunities unlocked.
Serving a population of around 250,000, DCH is a busy, modern hospital providing a full range of district general services, including an accident and emergency department. As part of a commitment to delivering improvements within the hospital, the Trust has appointed Prime as their strategic estates partner (SEP) to prepare and shape a strategic estate masterplan that provides transformational change on the site.
With Prime on board as a partner, the Trust is able to take proactive steps to achieve their strategic objectives; to deliver outstanding services every day, improve integration of services, foster greater collaborative working with patients and partners, empower staff and achieve greater sustainability.
Car parking and wayfinding
To enable the masterplan and transform the delivery of clinical services at DCH a new Multi Storey Car Park is required. Currently, every available area of external space is being used for car parking, creating a confusing layout and disjointed approach to wayfinding. The development of this enabling project will consolidate existing parking areas and latent demand into one location, simplifying vehicle routes and then user wayfinding within the site. For the masterplan, it will free up space for clinical expansion as needed and the change in the delivery of healthcare services.
Through extensive consultation with patients and staff, Prime determined that on-site parking was the cause of widespread frustration and that development of a new multi-storey car park and improved site access and wayfinding was critical to improving the experience of site users, and in helping the Trust to achieve its strategic vision.
Stakeholder engagement and masterplan
With Prime’s experience of stakeholder consultations, a strategy for engagement has been developed to promote the proposed development opportunities and wider masterplan for the hospital to patients and the wider community. Prime understands the importance of getting stakeholders on-board by communicating the benefits and getting them invested in schemes. This tried and tested strategy of clear, structured communication and engagement has helped previous Prime schemes by speeding up the pace of development and removing barriers, such as planning objections.
In addition to the engagement support, Prime is also supporting DCH in accessing private funding that will enable site improvements to become a reality, whilst allowing the Trust to retain control over its developments and focus on delivering first class care to its community.
Prime’s development experience is also being utilised to deliver a series of recommendations on the phasing of works. This ensures all projects within the masterplan are completed in a sequence, unlocking poorly utilised estate and improving revenue generation.
This once in a generation opportunity is the first step towards improvement is helping the Trust achieve its strategic vision and deliver affordable, high-quality facilities that improve the patient, visitor and staff experience.
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