23rd April 2024

Perega safeguards Yorkshire’s health infrastructure

Following a devastating fire at the Ampleforth Medical Surgery, York, our team of specialist structural engineers were approached by the owners, NHS North Yorkshire CCG, to help bring this critical healthcare unit back online.

The facility offers GP services and is a major medicine dispensary to the local community. Situated in a remote rural area, with few other options for miles around, it was essential to get services up-and-running as quickly as possible. This meant we had to operate with both skill and speed.

The team arrived on site in November 2023 to survey the level of damage, which extended from the reception and waiting area, through to the dispensary. This posed a serious threat to the local healthcare infrastructure as, with the latter facility compromised, patients would not have ready-access to medication.

With no time to lose, we adopted an agile approach to expedite the reconstruction process, quickly securing a contractor that could undertake the work without delay. Closely collaborating with them and the insurance company, the project kicked off within just two weeks of the fire’s occurrence.

The reconstruction, valued at approx. £250k, not only involved the full restoration of the flame-damaged interiors, but also full re-plastering and decorating as well as installing new kitchen units.

Working at break-neck speed, the surgery’s critical areas were rebuilt within two months, with the project concluding in time for Christmas, where demand for medical care often spikes. However, agility did not come at the expense of quality and our commitment to delivering best in class outcomes, meaning that every task was delivered with the utmost care.

As our Leeds-based Associate, Mathew Fairie, says, “The successful and timely completion of this project is testament to our engineers’ ability to manage crisis situations with speed, precision and a deep understanding of client needs. The facility’s rapid recovery ensured the resumption of vital medicine distribution services to the local community, highlighting our role in supporting public health through engineering excellence and proactive project management.”

To find out more about Perega’s structural engineering services and its work on fire and water-damaged properties click here.