The firm will provide 134 factory-built bathroom pods for the 22,000sqm community hospital in Haddington. The units will be supplied without floors to allow for continuous level flooring throughout the wards and avoiding the need for thresholds to make the bathrooms fully accessible.

Designed to meet HTM requirements, each of the large 2.6m x 2.2m pods will easily accommodate a patient and a carer, and will have a wider pre-prepared aperture for two door leaves for easy access. The wash basins, toilets and showers will be pre-installed in the Offsite Solutions’ factory in Somerset and the easy-to-clean, hygienic walls will be finished in white with a feature wall from a range of colours.

The scheme has a complex phased construction to allow the continuation of clinical services in the existing hospital buildings on the site. As a result, the bathroom pods will be installed in batches throughout 2018.

Morrison Construction was appointed principal contractor for the project by hub South East Scotland on behalf of NHS Lothian. When completed, the new facility will increase inpatient beds by around 60% to enhance the quality of care for the people of East Lothian.

Commenting on the specification of bathroom pods for this project, Paul Godwin, design manager at Morrison Construction, said: “Having the bathrooms arrive on site as a finished product gives us the benefit of a significant programme saving and this use of offsite construction means we need less labour on site, which is safer and more efficient.”

David Small, partnership director at East Lothian Health and Social Care, added: “I am impressed with the way work on site is forging ahead. People in East Lothian will benefit from having this state-of-the art facility, which will help us to deliver more services much closer to home.”

When operational, the new East Lothian Community Hospital will provide a range of community-based services including a mental health inpatient unit, elderly medicine, orthopaedic and stroke rehabilitation, medical assessment inpatient ward, therapy services, outpatients department, endoscopy and minor operations.