HEALTHCARE CONSTRUCTION
garden, with piped oxygen available to patients needing this. This space will offer even quite seriously ill patients, and, of course, staff and visitors, an opportunity to go outdoors, but under cover, either in the sun, or – if they prefer – in a shaded area.”
A ‘silent ward’ Inside, Paul Morris reiterated that the ability for staff to keep a close eye on patients from staff bases was considered a priority. He added: “For the optimal healing environment, we will be aiming for this to be a silent ward. We are thus aiming to have active listening so patients can interact with staff, but also active listening for alarms, so that while nurses are promptly alerted, the patient doesn’t hear alarms inside their room. We’re currently exploring, with the nurse call supplier, Ascom, both the facility for patients to talk directly to staff from their bedside, and to then get an idea – perhaps via a voice or screen message – of how long it will be before the nurse or doctor is with them. “We will also be linking the nurse call
system to the room lighting so that patients can adjust the colour and intensity of the ‘mood lighting’. When a doctor or other clinician walks in – for instance to examine the patient – they can then switch from the patient setting to a clinical lighting setting.” I asked about ventilation. Paul Morris
An isometric view of the ward plan highlighting the repeatable design which the single rooms and multi-bed bays follow. These standard layouts are bespoke to the Trust’s requirements.
explained: “We have active ventilation in all the rooms, with high air exchange rates. As you would expect, we have placed considerable emphasis on an environment that minimises infection risk – with hygienic wall cladding, and both clinical and patient washbasins, in patient rooms.” The room layout is designed for easy entry and egress, with the sinks positioned so that when a porter pushes in a bed they don’t hit the sink. The patient bathrooms incorporate their own washbasins and a wetroom design. In the four-bedded bays, the beds are staggered, with solid partitions between patients that have
windows with blinds which rise up from the floor towards the ceiling. Staff can thus see across the bay, but patients can also have privacy. In all the new building comprises nearly 50 modules, and I wondered how easy it had been to get them onto site. Paul Morris said he had been impressed with how well Health Spaces managed the process. “It was much like air traffic control in terms of them arriving when they were needed ‘just in time’,” he explained. Health Spaces’ senior Principal for Delivery, Nigel Thompson, added: “Our transport teams planned out the route to get the modules
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August 2023 Health Estate Journal 49
howorthgroup.com
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