WALL PROTECTION SYSTEMS
Helping to create the best healing environment
The need for interior solutions that enhance hygiene levels, reduce maintenance costs, and create a more positive environment in healthcare buildings, has seldom been more pressing. Mitch Dean, National Sales manager for Wall Protection at Gradus, outlines how installing wall protection in your healthcare building can help meet all three needs.
With the UK healthcare sector having over the past year experienced higher levels of strain than at any point in living memory, and seen significantly reduced patient throughput as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, the benefits of wall protection for healthcare buildings – including their ability to protect interiors to reduce maintenance costs, boost hygiene, and help create a more positive healing environment for patients – have rarely been clearer. My aim in this article is to offer an overview of the key considerations when specifying wall protection for healthcare environments, touching on where it is most effective, how to achieve optimal hygiene, and how different colours can be used to aid wayfinding and add structure to your building.
Where to install wall protection The best approach when specifying wall protection for a healthcare building is to ‘zone’ it into different areas, each defined by the volume and type of traffic it experiences. For example, some areas may be constantly exposed to wheeled traffic – made up of trolleys, medical equipment, wheelchairs, beds, and catering trollies, while others may be relatively quiet. Careful planning is required to ensure you choose the right solution for each zone.
The most vulnerable surfaces in any building are the corners. When left
The £350 m Grange University Hospital in Llanfrechfa, Wales’s first major hospital in over two decades, has 2,612 rooms, and offers more than 40 specialist services.
exposed, corners in healthcare facilities can be easily damaged by wheeled or pedestrian traffic, leading to unsightly imperfections and even more unsightly maintenance bills. The best way to prevent this is to install high-impact corner guards with aluminium retainers to provide a reinforced defence against high-impact damage, combined with shock-absorbent vinyl covers that can be easily replaced. Similarly, wall guards should be installed in the areas of the wall that receive the most contact, where they will provide robust protection through a combination of vinyl covers, aluminium retainers, and internal bumpers specially designed to absorb and dissipate impact.
Corridors and circulation areas Other areas that you will need to pay special attention to are corridors and circulation areas – typically the busiest parts of any healthcare facility. Here, the
key requirement is wall cladding. When installed to half the height of the wall, wall cladding will resist most direct impact damage, as well as the many scuffs and scrapes caused by the constant flow of traffic. A solution that is through-coloured will also conceal the effects of impact and abrasion, by ensuring that any surface damage shows as the same colour as the rest of the cladding, and is therefore not visible.
Finally, remember to consider the medical equipment within your building. The act of pushing the bed against the wall can cause damage to such equipment, while the raising, lowering, and tilting, of the bed can clash with overhead trunking. To solve this, correctly projected protection will help to keep the bedhead away from the trunking (and anything plugged into it) – ensuring that the medical equipment can go on performing its invaluable role.
Handrails were installed in the corridors at the Grange University Hospital, to offer patients support and respite, protecting them against falls, and also safeguarding their health and dignity.
56 Health Estate Journal May 2021
Rubber wall and corner guards have been fitted to protect back-of-house areas in the hospital against damage from wheeled equipment.
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