Future-Proofing Fire Alarm Infrastructure Across Critical Healthcare Estates

Delivering long-term fire alarm system upgrades for Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals

Who Are Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals?

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and most prestigious NHS trusts, providing critical healthcare services across multiple major hospital sites in London. Operating within complex live healthcare environments, the Trust requires highly reliable and resilient fire alarm infrastructure capable of supporting continuous hospital operations while maintaining the safety of patients, staff, and visitors.

Overview

Drax Technology has partnered with Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals for more than 10 years, maintaining and supporting fire alarm systems across both hospital estates. The hospitals operated a mixture of Advanced, Morley, and legacy Static fire alarm systems consisting of approximately 130 panels integrated across six AMX graphical monitoring workstations. To improve long-term reliability and future-proof the estates, Drax Technology implemented a phased upgrade programme replacing legacy Static systems with Advanced MX Pro 5 analogue addressable systems using open protocol technology. The programme improved system resilience, expanded long-term support options, and modernised fire alarm infrastructure across the hospitals.

Their Challenge

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals required a long-term solution to address the limitations of legacy Static fire alarm systems installed across the estate. The existing Static systems relied on managed protocols, restricting support, maintenance flexibility, and replacement part availability. This created long-term operational and maintenance concerns while limiting access to wider support options and compatible technologies.

A key challenge involved upgrading each legacy system individually while ensuring all fire alarm systems remained fully operational within the live hospital environment throughout the programme.

The Solution

Drax Technology developed and delivered a phased upgrade programme to replace each Static fire alarm system with Advanced MX Pro 5 analogue addressable systems using open protocol technology. The project began with a detailed assessment of the existing infrastructure to identify the operational requirements and upgrade considerations for each individual panel and system.

A tailored implementation plan was developed for every upgrade phase, including detailed scheduling and operational coordination to minimise disruption across the hospital estates. Throughout the programme, Drax Technology worked closely with hospital teams to maintain uninterrupted fire alarm protection while providing regular project updates and ongoing technical support. The new Advanced open protocol systems delivered improved flexibility, reliability, and long-term supportability across the estates.

What Drax Delivered

A long-term fire alarm infrastructure upgrade programme designed to improve reliability, flexibility, and future scalability across critical healthcare environments.
  • Advanced MX Pro 5 System Upgrades

    Replaced legacy Static systems with modern Advanced MX Pro 5 analogue addressable fire alarm systems.

  • Open Protocol Infrastructure

    Delivered open protocol technology enabling wider support, maintenance flexibility, and future scalability.

  • AMX Monitoring Integration

    Maintained integration across six AMX graphical monitoring workstations throughout the upgrade programme.

  • Estate-Wide System Modernisation

    Upgraded fire alarm infrastructure across complex multi-site hospital environments.

Outcomes

At a Glance

Drax Technology partnered with Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals over a 10-year period to maintain and modernise fire alarm infrastructure across both hospital estates. Through a phased upgrade programme replacing legacy Static systems with Advanced MX Pro 5 open protocol technology, the solution improved reliability, strengthened long-term support capabilities, and future-proofed fire alarm monitoring across critical healthcare environments.

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