21ST-CENTURY TECHNOLOGY
VR ‘flythrough’ images of some of the new facilities being built as part of the £485 million redevelopment ongoing at Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital.
“Virtual reality can really ‘sell’ an idea to staff and patients, guiding them through the entire process – from design mock- ups, to project collaboration, to the finishing touches that transform a building design from good to great. To be truly effective, however, the technology must allow stakeholders to fully interact with a proposed model – going so far as to be able to open and close doors and windows, turn lights on/off, and move trolleys, patients, and other equipment, around the room. This level of interaction then needs to form part of the healthcare provider’s feedback. Designers and heads of estates will need to know: n Which aspects of the design did the customer/other stakeholder particularly enjoy?
n Where did they struggle to engage? n What didn’t they like? n How will the facility cope with the multiple scenarios and patient pathways?
n What will the impact of using new technology such as a new EPR system or robots be?
n What will be the effect of clinics being run closer to home, or ‘virtually’ from the clinician’s home?
n What impact will back office staff working from home or ‘hot-desking’ when on site have?
n How could the facility be adapted for different uses in the future?
n Is the space sufficiently flexible to accommodate changing demands and advances in technology?”
32 Health Estate Journal June 2018
VR’s use on major Royal Sussex redevelopment scheme One good recent example of VR technology’s use is at Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. Over the past few years the Trust’s Redevelopment team has been looking at ways to improve staff engagement with the major £485 m redevelopment project currently ongoing at Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital (HEJ – March 2017). The scheme is seeing the construction of two sizeable new buildings – one equipped with diagnostic and treatment facilities, an expanded critical care unit, increased Emergency facilities, inpatient beds, teaching and meeting rooms, a new main entrance and spacious reception, and a new and expanded Neurosciences Centre. The second, meanwhile, will be a well- equipped and much expanded cancer centre. The goal of using VR, says the Trust, was “to ensure that the transition to the new building would be smooth, and that staff had a clear understanding of how the new buildings will be configured, and will ‘work’.”
Former use of ‘traditional’ plans The Redevelopment team had previously used ‘traditional’ 2D 1:200 and 1:50 plans, but in 2012 began using a BIM model to develop 3D representations of all rooms in the development to aid understanding. They took this a step further last September, modelling the entire development in Virtual Reality. In what is
thought to have been an NHS first, the model allowed staff to begin exploring the new facilities more than three years before the first of the new buildings’ completion. The Trust said: “Staff can move anywhere through the new buildings, the helideck, and the service yard, to learn how they can provide the best possible patient care as soon as they open.” Duane Passman, the director of the hospital’s redevelopment, added: “This VR tool will really help staff get used to their new working environment, and to explore every inch of the 92,000 m2 even been built.”
before it has
Measuring building energy efficiency
Boosting carbon savings is another area where 21st-century technology can benefit the estate. Tas Hind said: “As the UK’s most significant public sector contributor to climate change, the NHS is under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint – shaped as much by care models and clinical behaviours as by buildings and technologies. Substantial changes in service models are needed to reduce healthcare-related carbon emissions. There are three primary ways to improve energy efficiency in the NHS estate – improved design and construction techniques that reduce heating, cooling, ventilating, and lighting loads, building upgrades and replacing energy-using equipment, and actively managing energy use.”
Using ‘cutting edge technology’ to
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