Operating Theatres

Operating theatres designed for general surgery are versatile environments that can support a wide range of surgical specialities. A standard theatre suite arrangement will include an operating room, a scrub (typically three-person and can be integral), an anaesthetic room, a prep room (lay-up or sterile pack store), and a dirty utility. Our modular general surgery operating theatres are designed to be compliant with HBN 26, maximise room size within the building footprint and available space, and provide a comfortable and efficient working environment to maximise the number of sessions carried out.

Southmead Hospital Twin Operating Theatres

ModuleCo built a state-of-the-art modular twin operating theatre suite for the North Bristol NHS Trust, providing expanded women’s and children’s services at Southmead Hospital. They will be used by a range of specialities including gynaecology, breast, urology, and colorectal surgery.

Project Story

Hybrid operating theatres combine the standard theatre suite arrangement (operating room, scrub, prep/pack store, anaesthetic room, and dirty utility) with advanced imaging equipment, situated within the operating room. It enables multi-disciplinary teams (surgeons, radiologists, cardiologists, etc.) to provide complex and minimally invasive surgical procedures with the guidance of imaging in real time, avoiding the need to transfer the patient to an imaging department elsewhere on the hospital site. Our modular hybrid operating rooms are typically larger than a standard OR (55m² min.) to accommodate the imaging equipment, which is often large, and additional personnel. Our hybrid theatres can incorporate lead shielding and extra structural support to provide protection and bear the weight of fixed imaging equipment like angiography C-arms or CT scanners.

Laparoscopic operating theatres are designed for minimally invasive procedures that use camera-guided instruments, known as laparoscopy (a type of keyhole surgery). Alongside the standard operating theatre equipment (surgeon's panel, operating light, medical gas pendants, etc), laparoscopic operating rooms feature advanced audiovisual equipment to support the surgical team, including high-definition monitors mounted on walls or suspended from the ceiling on articulated arms. Our modular laparoscopic theatres facilitate this by integrating the necessary video systems, insufflation equipment, and multiple display screens in layout defined by your clinical team to ensure we meet their specific needs.

Maternity operating theatres, also known as obstetric theatres, are specialist surgical suites typically located within a maternity or obstetrics unit. They used for surgical procedures related to childbirth such as caesarean sections or emergency interventions during labor, and are therefore most often located adjacent to or within the labor ward to ensure immediate access for maternity patients. They include many of the same elements as a general theatre, including an operating room, scrub and prep room, but often not an anaesthetic room. They should be located close to a recovery area and have neonatal resuscitation equipment on hand for the newborn baby. ModuleCo modular maternity theatres are designed in compliance with HBN 09-02: Maternity Care Facilities. Our modular obstetric theatres provide a fully compliant environment that enables clinical staff to deliver care safely to mother and baby.

Leighton Hospital Maternity Operating Theatres

ModuleCo built a state-of-the-art modular maternity operating theatre suite at Leighton Hospital in Crewe, in collaboration with Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The suite includes a 63m² operating room with an integrated three-person scrub area, an anaesthetic room, a lay-up prep room, and a dirty utility room.

Project Story

Ophthalmic operating theatres are often day surgery units tailored specifically for eye surgery. Ophthalmic procedures typically involve delicate microsurgical techniques using specialist equipment like operating microscopes and lasers. A critical design and structural requirement is maintaining a stable, low-vibration environment to avoid disturbing the delicate and intricate procedures. ModuleCo ophthalmic theatres provide the required vibration performance beyond the Health Building Note requirements and do so for both floor- and ceiling-mounted microscopes within our module structure – there is no need for concrete floors which can extend the groundworks period of the construction programme. However, our module design can be adjusted to facilitate a concrete slab should that be your team's preference. Window frosting and internal blinds for the clinical doors can be installed to support the use of lasers in theatre. Our modular ophthalmic theatre has the same 144m² total footprint as our other theatre suite designs and offers a 62m² operating room with integral three-person scrub as standard.

Musgrove Park Hospital Ophthalmic Theatre and Day Surgery Unit

ModuleCo built a 484m² modular ophthalmic operating theatre and day surgery unit at Musgrove Park Hospital as a significant extension to their existing eye surgery unit. The unit featured a state-of-the-art ceiling-mounted Leica microscope and a large, two-stage recovery area for patients.

Project Story

Orthopaedic surgery requires as many as seven instrument trolleys at any one time, cater to the requirements of joint surgeries, trauma fixes, and other orthopaedic procedures. A large and flexible space is therefore required for clinical teams to operate effectively. Orthopaedic operating theatres must be designed to minimise infection risks and often feature ultra-clean ventilation systems to achieve this. This is most commonly an ultra clean ventilation (UCV) laminar flow canopy that provides a continuous sheet HEPA-filtered air around the surgical area to reduce airborne contaminants around the patient and instruments. An orthopaedic theatre suite layout generally mirrors that of a standard suite (operating room, scrub, anaesthetic room, and dirty utility) but may include a sterile pack store in place of a conventional prep room as surgical instrument packs can be opened directly under the UCV canopy. ModuleCo modular orthopaedic theatres incorporate these measures in line with HBN 26 guidance, but have also provided orthopaedic theatres without a laminar flow canopy – research recently conducted in New Zealand that indicated canopies have limited benefit in preventing infection is being adopted by some NHS Trusts in the UK.

Mexborough Elective Orthopaedic Centre of Excellence

ModuleCo but a twin operating theatre orthopaedic surgical hub with recovery ward at Montagu Hospital that was dubbed a centre of excellence for orthopaedics. The building will provide orthopaedic procedures that include hand, wrist, foot, ankle, arm, shoulder, carpal, knee, and hip surgeries.

Project Story

Temporary operating theatre hire provides a fast and flexible solution for hospitals seeking additional surgical capacity without a permanent construction commitment. ModuleCo can deliver any operating theatre specialty on a hire basis through our specialist procurement partner, MCH, with contract durations ranging from short, no fixed term agreements to long-term arrangements (up to 15 years). These hire agreements can include a fully managed service encompassing the design and build of the facility and even ongoing facilities maintenance as part of a single package. A pay-per-use IFRS-compliant rental model, dubbed "pulse", can also be utilised that enables you hospital to pay only when the facility is used, minimising your risk and financial commitment. Crucially, a hired operating theatre from ModuleCo has no compromise on quality or compliance. ModuleCo temporary theatres are fully compliant with NHS HBN and HTM guidelines and are built to the same state-of-the-art specifications as our permanent hospital buildings. Our temporary theatre solutions allow hospitals and healthcare providers to quickly employ extra surgical capacity to cover a refurbishments, address surgical backlogs, or respond to a sudden increase in demand.

Sulis Hospital Temporary Operating Theatre Suite and Recovery Ward

ModuleCo built a modular operating theatre suite and first stage recovery ward at Sulis Hospital on a temporary hire basis through our partners at MCH. The theatre suite was brand new, specified to the client's requirements, and provided on a 12 month short-term hire.

Project Story