Special Inpatient Services Unit (SISU)

Special Inpatient Services Unit (SISU) is a proposed £65m healthcare development being progressed through the NHS Building for Wales Framework.

Lee Wakemans supported the scheme through the preparation of the Outline Business Case (OBC) and provided cost management services for the proposed development of a new 63-bed specialist mental health facility. The scheme has been designed to incorporate a Low Secure Unit, Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, Learning Disabilities Acute Unit, and a Crisis Assessment Support Unit with a Section 136 suite and out-of-hours provision.

The project has also been developed in alignment with the NHS Wales Net Zero Building Standard and is currently awaiting a decision from Welsh Government. The NHS Wales Net Zero Building Standard is intended to ensure that new healthcare developments are designed to minimise carbon emissions in operation, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, improve energy efficiency and support the wider Welsh public sector ambition to reach net zero. It reflects the broader NHS Wales and Welsh Government decarbonisation agenda, which expects new public sector buildings to be developed to net zero standards and aligned with long-term sustainability, resilience and whole-life performance objectives.

This makes the SISU project particularly significant because it is not only a major proposed specialist mental health facility, but also a scheme being shaped around the future standards expected of healthcare infrastructure in Wales. By combining modern clinical accommodation with alignment to the NHS Wales Net Zero Building Standard, the project represents an important opportunity to deliver improved mental health provision in a way that also supports the transition to a lower-carbon, more sustainable NHS estate.