A new outpatients centre has officially opened at Stepping  Hill Hospital in Stockport, marking a major milestone for  Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and modern methods of  construction (MMC) specialist, MTX Contracts.

THE HOSPITAL is a specialist ‘hub’ centre for  emergency and high-risk general surgery – one of  only four in Greater Manchester. The new facility  will modernise outpatient services and enhance  care for the half a million patients using Stepping  Hill annually. The ground and first floors of the  ￡24.3million facility house the new department,  with multiple consulting rooms, dental treatment  and procedure rooms, waiting areas and toilets. The  second floor has a smaller footprint for plant and  ancillary equipment.

A total of 72 precisely engineered steel structural  units were factory-manufactured offsite while the  site was being cleared and foundations created for  the new building. The units were craned onto site  in November 2024 to form the building shell. Once  in place, the structure was made weatherproof and  concrete floors were poured to contribute to the highquality  finish of the building. Many of the mechanical  and electrical elements, including air handling units,  were also manufactured offsite in factory conditions  ready for assembly and final testing.

While the modular units were manufactured,  MTX undertook groundworks to prepare the site for  their arrival, streamlining the programme duration.  Developing the site presented significant challenges,  including the removal of previous structures which  contained asbestos material, and mitigating the  presence of a below-ground abandoned plantroom.  A live, multi-service trench which ran through the site  of the proposed new building required MTX to divert  water and drainage facilities, electricity supplies and  communications cables.

The capability to run various work streams for  new buildings simultaneously while elements are  manufactured offsite is one of the key advantages of  MMC – enabling faster, greener, safer and more costeffective  delivery. MTX has developed advanced hybrid  construction techniques using MMC, which are shown  to produce up to 45% less carbon emissions when  compared to more traditional building solutions.

Employing structural steel modules also enables  the use of lightweight materials, which in turn  contributes to a reduction in transport requirements  and carbon emissions – in this case, contributing  to the Trust’s Joint Green Plan with Tameside and  Glossop Integrated Services NHS Foundation Trust,  aimed at increasing the sustainability of both  organisations.

“We are proud to have worked in partnership  with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust to deliver this  state-of-the-art facility,” said Paul Williams, MTX  Project Director. “Our vision was to create a modern,  welcoming and efficient space that would improve the  experience for patients and staff alike, and I believe  collectively we’ve achieved exactly that. We wish the  staff and patients all the very best in this new chapter,  and we’re proud to have been part of it.”